Lebanon: UK nationals tell of life left behind after evacuation

Dia, 81, and Amine, 88, are dual British-Lebanese nationals, but moved back to Beirut from London when they retired in 2000.

Their daughter, Mona Deeley, was able to secure a space for Dia on the flight, but told the BBC of her “hard” decision to leave Amine – who needs 24-hour care – behind.

“A normal trip is gruelling at their age, let alone an evacuation,” she said.

Elderly people have to think about “not only whether a bomb is going to fall on your heads or not” but also “not having access to your medication, to your doctor, to your hospital”, Ms Deeley added.

“With my mum, it felt like now or never.

“She can’t change anything for him on the ground, she can’t lift him up and nurse him herself – so in a very hard way, it was more reassuring for us to have one of them here.”