"No One Knows Where the Rest of Our Family Is"

Hassan Ftouni watched the screens in the arrivals hall of Düsseldorf airport carefully, eager for any news about Flight 703 from Damascus. Originally from Lebanon, where most of his family still resides, Ftouni and his brother have been living in Germany for 15 years. They both still make regular trips to the Middle East to visit relatives.

Ftouni's brother took his wife and children to Beirut for holidays at the end of June. But then the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants flared up. Ftouni said he last heard from his brother on Monday, July 17 -- the day he planned to flee to Syria with his family and catch the next plane back to Germany.

"No one knows where the rest of our family is," he said."We've got a brother in one area, a sister in another, our father. We're very worried. There's no electricity or water over there. Food is becoming rare and expensive."

"Just keep driving"

Also in the arrivals hall was Ali Alouch. The 28-year-old was on board the first evacuation flight from Damscus and was waiting for the second plane, carrying a plastic sign bearing the words: "Ibi, you're not alone." Ibi is Ali's brother who lives in southern Lebanon and still hasn't made it through to Beirut, let alone Damscus. Ali knows the journey is dangerous -- he drove it himself just a few days ago.

"Driving from southern Lebanon to Beirut was horrible," he said. "Bombs were exploding left and right, all you could here were aircraft. You couldn't tell what was happening. The driver in front of me said: 'No matter what happens, no matter what you see, just keep driving, don't stop.' I had my wife and three children in the car. They were crying and praying. It was horrible."

Tearful arrival

After a long wait, the flight from Damascus finally landed in Düsseldorf.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the glass doors leading into the arrivals hall. As the first evacuees entered, the crowd surged forward. Families embraced as they were reunited. A lot of tears were shed, too -- some out of relief, others out of disappointment, because not everyone who was expected was actually on board the flight.

Marco Dadomo from LTU airlines, the operator of the evacuation flights, did his best to console them.

"Once you get through to Damascus airport in Syria, your chances of flying back to Germany are good," he said. "The German foreign ministry has organized a series of evacuation flights. Today's arrival was one of them, and tomorrow there'll be another, so whoever makes it to the airport will most likely be in Germany within a few days."

Hassan Ftouni's relatives weren't on the plane this time. Disappointed but resolute, he said he'll return to the arrivals hall to meet the next flight.