Nearly 4,000 Americans expected in Cyprus from Lebanon

LANARCA, Cyprus (CNN) — The U.S. ambassador to Cyprus expects nearly 4,000 Americans to be evacuated to the island nation from war-torn Lebanon on Saturday.

“Today, in fact, for us in Cyprus is our most intense day so far,” said Ronald Schlichler, in an interview on CNN.

He said around 3,900 Americans are expected to be coming into Cyprus on the USS Trenton, the USS Nashville, and a civilian ship.

Five military flights are heading back to the United States, with 2,000 people expected to be sent home on Saturday and 2,000 more on Sunday, he said.

Schlicher also said evacuees will be taken to another nearby site — Mersin, Turkey. That would be “to relieve the congestion that Cyprus is experiencing with our and other nations’ evacuations.” Cyprus is northwest of Lebanon in the Mediterranean Sea. Mersin is a city on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast and it is north of Cyprus. (Posted 7:45 a.m.)