'Libya is descending into hell... Tripoli airport is absolute chaos'

Rescued British nationals wept with joy today as they landed at Gatwick airport from Libya and said their ordeal had been "the worst of their lives".

Seventy-eight Britons arrived soon after 7am on a BP-chartered plane, while a Foreign Office-chartered aircraft with 130 adults and two children touched down in Malta this afternoon as it made its way to Britain from Tripoli.

A Ministry of Defence Hercules plane with 51 Britons, a dog, and 13 non-British passport holders was also due to land in Malta later today as the rescue efforts gathered pace.

Passengers on the BP flight described the "hellish" scenes in Libya, and told of "absolute atrocities" being committed. They said thousands were begging to get on flights, with some people camped on the runway in a bid to be first on the rescue planes.

Helena Sheehan, 66, said she had just experienced "some of the worst hours of her life", adding: "Libya is descending into hell. The airport is like nothing I've ever seen in my whole life. It's absolute chaos. There are thousands and thousands of people trying to get out."

Ms Sheehan, a university professor from Dublin, said she had been visiting the country to give a lecture but was "abandoned" by her hosts when
trouble broke out.

"Yesterday I heard gunfire and saw burning buildings and I went through Tripoli. I didn't see anyone being killed but I spoke to somebody who said they had buried 17 of their neighbours on Monday and 20 of them on Tuesday."

Jan McKeogh, 63, from Christchurch, New Zealand, said she had heard of "absolute atrocities" being committed that were too upsetting to describe. Ms

McKeogh, a teacher at an international school in Tripoli, has suffered massive distress as she tried to contact her family after the devastating Christchurch earthquake as well as escape from Libya. She said: "Monday night was the turning point for us.

Chinooks flew over our house and there were machinegun blasts shortly afterwards. It's usually a very, very safe area but there were absolute maniacs over there. I fear for the people who have been left behind."

Steven and Karen Willoughby from Belfast were on the flight with their seven-month-old son, Darragh. Mr Willoughby, who teaches in an international school in Tripoli, said they had been let down by the Foreign Office.

The scenes in Tripoli were "horrific", he said. "We felt as if we were on our own. It was up to ourselves to get back to London. The Foreign Office kept telling us to get commercial flights but these kept getting cancelled.

"Thousands and thousands are just trying to get home. There was a stampede last night, tear gas was thrown. There has been constant gunfire over the last 72 hours. We didn't feel safe, there were armed men walking the streets and we could hear machineguns. We knew we had to leave."

IT support worker Ewan Black, 51, from Fife in Scotland, slept overnight at Tripoli airport which he described as "a zoo". He said: "The only way of getting official information was through the embassy but the telephone lines were so sporadic that the embassy wasn't always an option.

"I was at the airport for a day and it was a zoo. There were thousands and thousands of people outside trying to get away. I was dragged about by police a bit but I've got here so I'm happy."

Although the British repatriation effort has been widely criticised, scores of Britons have now been evacuated on chartered and military aircraft.

The Foreign Office said fewer than 500 remain in Libya - between 75 and 200 stranded in the desert, fewer than 100 still in Tripoli, and between 100 and 200 in Benghazi waiting to be evacuated by HMS Cumberland which docked there this afternoon.

A spokesman said boarding British nationals "would be a priority", with the plan then to fill remaining spaces with non-British passport holders.

Egypt Plans to send six planes to bring back thousands of its 1.5 million citizens from Libya. Thousands more have returned by land or are waiting to cross border.

China Sent first plane yesterday. Plans under way to bring 2,900 of the 30,000 Chinese in Libya over the border by bus into Tunisia. Three Greek commercial ships were on their way to Benghazi to help evacuate between 13,000 and 15,000 Chinese and 300 Greeks.

Turkey has 25,000 citizens in Libya and is said to be staging its biggest evacuation. A total of 3,000 Turks have been taken on two ships from Benghazi, with 250 taken to Alexandria to fly home.

France Total of 335 citizens and 56 foreigners flown by military planes to Paris. Another plane has been sent to rescue tourists.