site.btaGovernment Airplane Carrying Evacuated Bulgarians from Beirut Lands at Sofia Airport

The government Airbus airplane with Bulgarian citizens on board who wished to be evacuated from Lebanon landed at Sofia airport Monday. Earlier in the day, a team of the State Aviation Operator flew to Beirut, beginning a phased evacuation of Bulgarians from Lebanon. 

At the moment, there are no Bulgarians returning on the flight who have requested accommodation. However, the Ministry of Interior is ready to assist with its bases. In the meantime, other options for the evacuation of Bulgarians from Beirut continue to be considered, the press service of the Council of Ministers said Monday.

According to the Bulgarian Government's information, officials from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry are accompanying the first group of Bulgarian citizens.

Priority in the evacuation will be given to families with children and groups of vulnerable people. This was decided at the meeting convened on Sunday by caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev at the Council of Ministers, with the participation of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Secretariat of the Security Council and the security services.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Bulgarian citizens to suspend all travel to the Republic of Lebanon and to leave the country immediately. In case of need for assistance, Bulgarian citizens in Lebanon can contact the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Beirut at the following number: +961 5 453 658, as well as emergency telephone numbers during non-working hours: +961 81 302 552; +961 76 697 766. Alerts can also be submitted to the Embassy's Consular Service email address: CONSULAR.BEIRUT@MFA.BG.