India, Vietnam, the Philippines and China welcomed home expatriates, though tens of thousands of mostly low-wage workers remain in Libya as Asian governments struggle to put evacuation plans into effect.

Two state-run Air India flights carrying a total of 530 evacuees arrived at New Delhi late Saturday to be greeted by foreign secretary Nirupama Rao.

"This escape of mine makes me feel I am in heaven," said Indian engineer Mohammed Sali, 63. "One man came and put the knife on my neck. He took all my belongings -- laptop, chain, even my car.

"We heard gunshots every day. I went under a container and stayed there. Somehow we managed to escape.

"People have to go without food and water for three or four days as the situation there is bad. People are on the streets... police stations have been burnt down. There is no safety, no police."

There are 18,000 Indians in Libya, of whom 3,000 are believed to be in the eastern port city of Benghazi working for car companies, construction firms and hospitals, while others are scattered across the oil-rich country.

Fears of a full-scale civil war as Moamer Kadhafi loses his grip on power have prompted many countries to rush to get their citizens out.

"The need of the hour is for India to send as many planes to get all the Indians out," said Moben Kureshi, 27, a factory worker who was on the first plane to land in New Delhi.

"Those people who are far from Tripoli are in massive trouble as foreigners are under serious threat. We were looted at the airport itself. At least three groups, including mine, had their mobiles taken away at the check-in.

"The situation of Indians, especially who are residing in workers camps, is very bad as the camps have been burnt down and there is no shelter, food and water."

Indian officials said the air rescue effort would go on for at least two weeks, while a passenger ship was also due to arrive in Libya on Sunday to take Indian evacuees to Alexandria in Egypt, from where they will be flown home.

In Vietnam, migrant labourers landing on home soil appeared badly shaken by their experiences trying to get home.

A weeping Vu Van Loi was one of almost 100 workers who arrived at Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City, VNExpress news website reported.

"I thought I could not get back home. In the airport in Tripoli, there was a lot of gunfire. It was very chaotic," said Loi, holding his daughter.

He was one of 10,000 Vietnamese who had been working in Libya.

"The sound of gunfire became more and more each day," the website quoted another worker, Nguyen Viet Cuong, as saying.

As of Sunday, more than 20,000 Chinese had been evacuated from Libya, according to Beijing's foreign ministry, with many more still in the country.

At least 1,226 returned to China Sunday by chartered flights, the state Xinhua news agency said, as Beijing's evacuation efforts continued.

Bangladesh, which has some 60,000 citizens working in Libya, said about 4,000 had reached the Tunisian and Egyptian borders, and 800 had been taken to Crete by their Chinese company.

"The government has not evacuated any Bangladeshi workers so far. But we have all preparations ready if the situation worsens," labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said.

He said many workers had lost their passports as the documents had been kept by employers who had now disappeared.

On Saturday, hundreds of Bangladeshis blocked a highway and staged demonstrations in the capital Dhaka to demand immediate evacuation of their relatives.

A total of 168 Filipinos have so far arrived home, including a group of hotel and construction workers who landed early Sunday, but 26,000 Filipino expatriates are still stranded.

Some 30 South Koreans meanwhile managed to get out on board a Turkish army vessel, Seoul's defence ministry said Sunday. One of its warships was due to arrive in Benghazi on Thursday to evacuate more nationals to nearby Greece.

At least 500 South Koreans were still thought to be in Libya.

burs-pst/slb

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