South Africa’s embassy staff and their families who had been trapped in the embassy and the ambassador’s residence in Abidjan by the civil war, escaped to Accra

South Africa’s embassy staff and their families who had been trapped in the embassy and the ambassador’s residence in Abidjan by the civil war, escaped to Accra, Ghana, where they were waiting to fly home yesterday.

Ambassador Zodwa Lallie and the others had been stuck in the two buildings opposite each other in the Cocody suburb since last week as the final battle for the control of Ivory Coast raged at the nearby presidential residence.

The forces of Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised president, first assaulted and then laid siege to the presidential residence where former president Laurent Gbagbo and his guard are making a last-ditch stand.

Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said the embassy staff and their families had been evacuated from the embassy to Abidjan airport on Friday and from there to Accra in neighbouring Ghana on Saturday.

He had indicated earlier that they would fly home yesterday but they were still in Accra at midday and it was not clear if they left later in the day.

They were to fly home in the South African Air Force C130 Hercules transport aircraft which had been been waiting for them at Accra airport since last Sunday and which collected them in Abidjan on Saturday and flew them to Accra.

The embassy staff had been unable to get from the embassy to Abidjan airport until Friday because of the fighting in the streets between Gbagbo’s and Ouattara’s forces which intensified as Ouattara’s men closed in on Gbagbo’s residence.

It was not clear yesterday how the staff got from the embassy to the airport. In the end the drive to the airport had gone off without incident.

Joey Rothkegel was reunited with her husband, deputy ambassador Wolf Rothkegel, in Accra. They had been separated the week before last because she was trapped in a city hotel when her flight out of Ivory Coast was cancelled.