Hope for Spaniards trapped in Ethiopia: the travel agency is preparing to get them out safely

The Kananga travel agency, which has 18 Spanish tourists trapped by the armed clashes in northern Ethiopia, has assured this Thursday that the situation has stabilized and is preparing to take the travelers out of their refuge and bring them to Spain.

According to the agency, Noelia Bertran, the guide accompanying the travelers, has reported that the Ethiopian military has been able to reclaim the area where the FANO militias are located and have withdrawn. “Everything with relative calm and without incidents of shootings,” Bertran assured.

According to the guide, the Ethiopian authorities are carrying out a “comprehensive assessment of the roads both in the direction of Gondar and in the direction of Bahar Dar, and have so far confirmed that they are clear and safe.”

For the agency, highway safety is “a fundamental step to ensure the safe and efficient transfer of all those involved to one of these two cities as soon as possible.”

For this reason, Kananga assures that it has established direct communication with Ethiopian Airlines “in order to coordinate the blocking of flights to Addis Ababa and to be able to connect with its flight to Spain.”

“It seems that soon we will be able to leave”

Inma, a journalist trapped in the hotel, has said that they are hopeful and it seems that they will soon be able to return to Spain thanks to advances in the offensive against the militiamen. “We are hopeful and it seems that soon we will leave. The travel agency, in some way, is waiting to expedite procedures and the Consulate too,” he told Europa Press in a telephone conversation.

The 18 Spanish travelers who were on a truck route through northern Ethiopia found themselves surprised on August 1, when they were surprised by armed clashes between the Ethiopian army and the Fano militias.

In the middle of crossfire territory, the travelers took refuge in a roadside hostel in a village, from where they claim to hear the clashes that are taking place in the village itself.

Since the start of hostilities, airports have been closed to air traffic and roads blocked, making it difficult for travelers to leave.

The Spanish embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are coordinating, together with other European governments and international organizations, an operation that allows Spanish tourists and tourists from other nationalities to be safely removed from the country.