'I'm lucky to have lived'
Evacuees from Liberia describe chaos
April 10, 1996
Web posted at: 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN) -- People airlifted out of Monrovia by U.S. special forces Wednesday described the war-torn Liberian capital as a reign of terror.
"When I saw people dying, it was time to leave," one man said, simply.
Despite the heavy fighting in the city, the State Department said there are no immediate plans to close down the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, which has served as the evacuation airlift base.
State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns summed up the current situation in the city as "chaotic and tense." He said the United State's priority is to evacuate American citizens, but many have had trouble getting to the embassy because of fierce fighting in the city, so people from other countries have been taken as space allowed.
"All we got out of there were the clothes on our back. . . .We just had to run for our lives."
-- evacuee 
"When I saw people dying, it was time to leave."
-- evacuee
Numerous countries, most of them European, have asked the United States for assistance in getting their citizens out, and Burns said that once "all non-official Americans who wish to leave" are evacuated, the United States will continue evacuations to help others flee.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. military has evacuated 273 people from Liberia, of which 61 are U.S. citizens.
U.S. special forces are airlifting the evacuees to Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Dakar, Senegal.
Burns said officials believe all Americans in the city are safe, but those who have been evacuated said they feared for their lives as warring factions blasted the streets with rocket-propelled grenades and sprayed bullets around.
One woman said she and her husband -- both evangelical missionaries -- were run out of their home by rebels. According to the woman, when they reached checkpoints en route to the U.S. Embassy, police took their money and passports, and then shot at the car as they sped away.
"All we got out of there were the clothes on our back. ... We just had to run for our lives," she said.
Another man said, "I'm lucky to have lived."
Related stories:
- U.S. sends more troops to West Africa - April 10
- Americans evacuated from war-torn Liberia - April 9
- Liberian factions agree to truce - April 9
- U.S. readies for possible evacuation in Monrovia - April 9
- Civilians prepare to flee Liberia as fighting continues - April 8
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