A first French plane carrying people evacuated from Niger landed at Paris-Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport shortly after 01:30 a.m. on Wednesday, an airport source told French news agency AFP.
“There are 262 people on board the plane, which is an Airbus A330, including a dozen babies,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna had told AFP on Tuesday evening. She explained that “almost all the passengers are compatriots,” but that there were also "a few European nationals.
Other passengers, “with more Europeans,” boarded a second plane at around 8.20 p.m. (Belgian time) at Niamey Airport, the head of French diplomacy said. “There are 600 French people who have clearly expressed their intention to leave and there are just under 400 Europeans,” she added.
A third flight was also scheduled.
“We have indicated that we would like the evacuation operation to take place within 24 hours, if possible, from midday today to midday tomorrow,” the minister said.
“There will be no political reception.” It will be “a technical reception” with teams from the crisis centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Red Cross and an association to help find accommodation for those who might need it.
The Foreign Ministry had announced in a statement on Tuesday morning that France had decided to evacuate its nationals from Niger “in view of the situation in Niamey.”
The Quai d’Orsay justified this decision by the “violence that took place against our embassy the day before yesterday and the airspace closure, which leaves our compatriots without the possibility of leaving the country by their own means.”
Niger's elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown last week in a coup d’état led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, who justified the putsch by “the deterioration of the security situation” in a country plagued by violence from jihadist groups.
On Sunday, thousands of pro-coup demonstrators gathered outside the French embassy in Niamey, Niger’s capital, before being dispersed with tear gas.
