Kochi: A total of 10 nurses and two children returned from war-torn Libya early on Friday by a Qatar Airways flight to Nedumbassery airport.

The nurses who arrived around 2.40 am included two males and eight females who told a tale of intense fighting, devastation and acute insecurity in the city of Benghazi where they worked.

They were housed by the army at the Benghazi Medical Centre after the hospitals in which they were working were devastated in the fighting.

They said that both the government and private hospitals had suffered heavily in the fighting and there was no security for life and property in the country.

Since they had to flee, they had to shell out the money for the air ticket from their pockets and also did not get a salary for the last two months.

They also lost one month's leave salary. They also could not collect most of their belongings from their hostels. “We also could not get the experience certificates,” said a nurse.

The nurses first arrived at Tunisia from where they reached Doha and then flew to Kochi. NORKA-ROOTS had arranged a counter at the airport to receive the nurses and each of them was given an assistance of Rs 2,000.

However, there were complaints that share conveyance was not arranged, as was done when previous batches arrived.