In pictures: Tourists leave Gambia

Jan 19, 2017

Tourists are streaming out of the country, leaving the small airport near Banjul struggling to handle extra flights.

THE GAMBIA POLITICS

  • Gambians went to polls on December 1
  • At first, incumbent Jammeh conceded defeat
  • But on December 9, he announced that he had changed his mind

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As tensions rise in The Gambia, Britain and the Netherlands issued travel advisory warnings, with around 1,000 British tourists expected to leave on special flights on Wednesday alone.

Tourists streamed out of the country, leaving the small airport near Banjul struggling to handle extra flights.

Senegalese troops backed by other African forces were poised to move into the country as President Yahya Jammeh's army chief said his troops would not fight their entry into the country.

On Wednesday, tourists loaded luggage onto a bus in preparation to leave The Gambia after the British Government changed the travel advisory to amber due to the state of emergency issued by Gambian President Jammeh.

 

The same day, a Thomas Cook travel representative helped tourists prepare to leave The Gambia..

 

Some tourists meanwhile enjoyed their last moments poolside as they prepared to leave their hotel in Banjul.

 

Also on Wednesday, this Palma Beach remained deserted after tourists there left.

 

 

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These tourists from The Netherlands were interviewed by media upon their arrival from Banjul at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport on Wednesday.

 

Here, British traveller Sara Wilkins consoles fellow passenger Ebrima Jagne of Gambia after they arrived on repatriation flights organised by tour operator Thomas Cook at Manchester Airport in north west England.

 

Meanwhile in Dakar, Senegal, the Embassy of the Gambia is seen here. It is the possible location for The Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow to take the oath of office.

 

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On December 13 last year, Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow (C) was flanked by his supporters upon his arrival at a luxury hotel in Banjul, for a meeting with four African heads of state.

 

Several days later, on January 18, 2017, his spokesman Halifa Sallah addressed a press conference at Sunset Beach hotel near Banjul. The Senegalese army has said it is ready to intervene in neighbouring Gambia failing a solution to the crisis triggered by President Yahya Jammeh's refusal to step down after his election defeat last month.

 

On January 13, 2017, the Nigerian Presidency released this photo showing Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari (L) Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2nd L), former Ghana President, John Dramani Mahama (2nd R) and an unidentified woman meeting with Gambian President Yahia Jammeh in Banjul.

 

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