An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team has led a convoy of buses and private cars carrying more than 1,000 people to Zaporizhzhia. The civilians transported in the humanitarian convoy had fled Mariupol on their own.
"We walked, decided to go with the child. And our family let us go with tears in their eyes, because this is a long journey and it is definitely dangerous,” said Nykol who fled Mariupol.
The convoy that the ICRC led left Berdiansk on Tuesday and reached Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday. The ICRC team had tried over the course of five days and four nights to reach Mariupol, and came within 20 kilometres of the city, but security conditions on the ground made it impossible to enter.
“As you can see, we have made it to Zaporizhzhia with seven other buses and more than 500 civilians that were coming out of Mariupol, leading a safe passage out to Zaporizhzhia. We hope that we'll be back and continue to provide the safe passage to the civilians. And we have also observed acute humanitarian needs that we hope to respond as a neutral humanitarian intermediary and continue to help civilians,” said Umar Naseem Khan, head of ICRC’s sub delegation in Dnipro.
The ICRC remains ready to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol and other cities, provided that the parties to the conflict ensure the necessary security guarantees and conditions.
Note to editors:
For more information:
Jason Straziuso (English, French), ICRC Geneva, jstraziuso@icrc.org, Tel.: +41 79 949 35 12
Crystal Wells (English), ICRC Geneva, cwells@icrc.org, Tel.: +41 79 642 80 56
Loglist:
ICRC Ref: 20220406-Zaporizhzhia-HumCorridorgr
Date: 06.04.22
Camera: ICRC
00:00 Convoy of buses and cars between Berdiansk and Zaporizhzhia
00:14 Umar Naseem Khan, Head of Sub Delegation ICRC in Dnipro.
"As you can see, we have made it to Zaporizhzhia with seven other buses and more than 500 civilians that were coming out of Mariupol, leading a safe passage out to Zaporizhzhia. We hope that we'll be back and continue to provide the safe passage to the civilians. And we have also observed acute humanitarian needs that we hope to respond as a neutral humanitarian intermediary and continue to help civilians."
00:41 People wait with their suitcases
00:54 Suitcases
01:04 Nykol and her family who fled Mariupol:
"We decided to go with the child, our relatives let us go with tears in our eyes, because it is a long way and it is definitely dangerous."
01:16 People carrying their luggage
01:47 Buses
02:23 The convoy passes by
02:48 ICRC flag
02:54 Cars, part of the convoy, follow behind the buses
03:05 Buses
03:13 ENDS