Kochi: A first batch of 12 Keralite nurses evacuated by the Centre from trouble-torn Libya arrived here in the wee hours of Friday.

The nurses, stranded in Libya, were brought back via Tunisia and arrived at the international airport in nearby Nedumbassery around 2.30 am, official sources said.

Non-Resident Keralite Affairs department officials, who received the nurses at airport, handed over a cash assistance of Rs 2,000 to each of them.

Narrating their ordeal, V R Jisha, one of the nurses, later told reporters that they did not get sufficient food or water in the strife-torn Libya.

She also lauded the efforts of the Indian Embassy there in facilitating their return.

Another batch of nurses from Libya was expected to reach Kozhikode on Sunday, official sources added.

The government has already evacuated nearly 3,000 Indian nationals from Libya after the second round of violence which started early this year.

Since the ouster and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi three years ago in a NATO-backed revolt, Libya has been rocked by fighting between militias and forces loyal to Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani.