Rescued from a war zone (From The Northern Echo)

Rescued from a war zone

6:00am Friday 21st July 2006

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A CHARITY worker from the North-East has been rescued from Beirut by British forces.

Clair Vainola said the presence of the Royal Navy gave her a sense of safety for the first time in eight days.

Yesterday, the 31-year-old drug counsellor boarded HMS Bulwark for Cyprus, before returning to the North-East.

Miss Vainola, from Newcastle, said: "I've got one holdall and I'm down to my last couple of pairs of knickers. I brought everything out here with me yet am going back with nothing.

"But really, in a situation like this, it's not about possessions, it's just about saving your life."

Miss Vainola has spoken to her mother, Patricia, who earlier this week received a text from her daughter that read "Pray, Mam".

Meanwhile, a student evacuated from the trouble zone was due back in the region last night.

Jason Bassili, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was taken to Cyprus on a British warship and caught a flight home yesterday.

He arrived at Gatwick Airport yesterday afternoon and got a train home, just in time to celebrate his 20th birthday.

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