CNN news 2011-02-10
The Cairo airport is a sea of humanity and confusion as people struggle to get out of the country. CNN's Arwa Damon is there. Arwa, describe what's happening right now.
Well, Isha, both at the arrival and departure lounges you have people who have basically been bracing themselves for the night ahead. Trying to sleep on the floor. A few with sleeping bags curling up inside. Very difficult situation especially because things like food and water at the airport itself are really running down to very, very low stocks if any at all. We were struggling to find some ourselves. We spoke with a number of people who are stuck there, an elderly couple from the United States who were saying they had been on a weeklong vacation in Egypt. Clearly had a lovely time. They were then at the airport trying to catch a connecting flight to their next destination only to be stuck there for two days in a row. Bearing in mind, though, that the majority of these passengers stuck at the airport not necessarily because of a delay in flights, although that is taking place, but also because of the fact that there is this curfew going on. We saw large tour operators, groups that were there, many of them saying that their tour guides were telling them that it just simply was not safe to leave the airport and go outside. We also spoke with a group of British artists. They had come over to be part of a high-profile VIP celebrity. They were coming over with a party organizer. They were a group of musicians, artists. They was a magician amongst them. They were saying that the magician was putting on tricks at the airport trying to entertain others. But they also not knowing what they were doing, where they were going next. A lot of confusion, Isha, at this stage.
Arwa, we've been telling our viewers about the state of anxiety there in Cairo, in many neighborhoods. Tell me, is there a feeling of safety at least at the airport?
There is to a certain degree. You know, the conflict and the violence itself has not yet reached the airport. But there is fear of really just stepping outside beyond the doors of the airport. Transportation, for example, very tricky especially because of the curfew that is taking place overnight. To give you an idea, we were trying to leave the airport. We managed to find a young man who was willing to drive us to a nearby hotel. He was so frightened and so anxious, he took a wrong turn. We ended up at an army checkpoint where the troops that were there made us get out of the vehicle. They searched everything. They went through our belongings, our IDs. They're also very tense. We just received reports that they had -- that other forces had managed to detain two Egyptian individuals who had a vehicle filled with weapons appearing to be preparing some sort of ambush. When we finally arrived at the hotel, a fairly steady stream of people who had somehow managed to make it outside of the airport at least to find a more comfortable place to sleep. But it really gives you an idea of just how tense this city is. People don't know what is going to be happening in the morning. They don't know what is going to be happening next.