New Delhi: The first batch of Indians, who were stranded in Libya after days of continued protests and violence, has arrived in India.

An Air India flight, carrying 290 such Indians, landed at T2 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi late on Saturday night. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao received the passengers. Minister of State for External Affairs E Aahmed was also present with her.

The Indian government has made elaborate arrangement at the airport to help the passengers. Those who want to stay in the national capital will be provided with the boarding and lodging facility and those who want to travel to their home states, can do so.

Special railway and air ticket counters have been set up at the terminal to help those who want to book tickets for their onward journey. All these services are being provided for free.

Apart from the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs, Resident Commissioners of 12 states - including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu - are also present at the airport to help the passengers.

A second flight, carrying nearly 250 passengers, is expected to arrive at the Delhi airport at 3 am.

The total number of Indians in Libya is estimated to be 18,000.

Meanwhile, as the situation worsens in Libya, some of the Indian nationals have crossed over to Tunisia. They say even the basic facilities are not available to them.

These people hope to catch a plane back home soon.

"People are trying from our home country to provide us air tickets and some flights, our government, maybe, will help us. Maybe it's a matter of four to five days then we'll be out from here," said Soreh Kothia, an Indian citizen who is a Manager of a construction company in Libya.

Tags: Indians in Libya, Libya protest, Libya unrest