Stranded Canadians in Libya get little help: pilot
An N.L. pilot caught in the strife in Libya said Thursday the federal government is not doing enough to get stranded Canadians out of the chaos.
Rod Chubbs, a pilot who has spent the last three months flying jet liners for Afriqiyah, one of the national airlines in Libya, fled the scene earlier this week after being caught in the crossfire.
But he said hundreds of other desperate Canadians are not so lucky and accused the Canadian Embassy in Tripoli of offering them little help.
Chubbs's harrowing tale began last weekend.
After getting clearance from the Canadian Embassy that the situation was calm, Chubbs flew to Tripoli Sunday night.
But Chubbs said he arrived to an ominous scene with the streets empty and shops closed.
He found refuge with a number of pilots at a Tripoli hotel.
"I was tired … on the go for 48 hours. I lay down and thought I was dreaming of gunshots around me and realized I wasn't asleep and all hell broke loose. There was gunfire from seven in the evening until four or five in the morning," he told CBC Radio.
Chubbs spent the next 24 hours trying to find a way out of Libya. He eventually used his pilot's identification card and contacts at the airport to get out.
