Sanaa , Yemen ( CNN ) As soon as the buses parked , the people scrambled onto the airport tarmac . They carried duffel bags , plastic bags full of clothes and small suitcases . They 'd already abandoned larger bags in a mound . Only carry-on luggage was allowed on this Air India plane . The passengers were mostly Indian nationals , plus Yemenis and people from other countries who had been working in Yemen 's capital , Sanaa . They sprinted or walked with deliberation to the airplanes . The stress of living in a war zone showed on the passengers ' faces . Nobody wanted to be left behind . They climbed the steps to the airliner and were greeted by the Air India crew , all wearing pressed uniforms , the flight attendants fully made up . After takeoff , the flight attendants went up and down the aisle offering drinks to the 188 evacuees as if they were on a vacation flight . But some passengers were already fast asleep , exhausted by the push to get out of Yemen , site of some of the most chaotic fighting in the Mideast . This scene has been repeated in recent days as countries work to get their citizens out of Sanaa during a small window when Saudi planes are not bombing the city in an attempt to drive out the Houthis , a Shiite group that has taken over the capital . Air India is especially active because so many Indian nationals work in other nations . Over the last few days , India has evacuated some 2,500 people from Yemen , said Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh , the Indian deputy foreign minister who 's overseeing the evacuation . The flights are going to Djibouti , the small African nation nearly 430 kilometers ( 267 miles ) away . Some evacuees are fleeing on boats at port cities such as Aden . People are leaving behind much more than luggage . Damodar Thakur , a professor at Sanaa University , lived in the capital 34 years and built a life there . He loved living in Yemen . `` I never felt like a foreigner , '' he said . Like the others , he was exhausted and jangled by the shelling and lack of electricity for long stretches . `` At night , my goodness ! '' he said . `` Gunshots being fired every minute . Sometimes the sky full of sparkling lights . Some women crying , children terrified . Really bad . '' The Houthi rebels control Sanaa , including the airport . But the Saudis are bombing the city and thus control air access in a way , so getting people out requires coordination . The Saudi air force gave Air India a four-hour window to go to and from Sanaa and a specific travel route for a safe landing . As the plane approached the city , the crew could see the scars of the fighting . There were no cars on the roads . Dozens of buildings were destroyed . At the airport , the landing strips and airport terminal were untouched by Saudi bombs , but buildings on the outskirts of the airport and planes along the airstrip had been blown to bits . The loading of passengers was swift . They approached the planes carrying boarding passes -- another touch of normalcy in the otherwise abnormal event . They did n't pay for the flight , though they had to purchase exit visas from the Houthis . Children sat on their parents ' laps to maximize the number of people on the plane . Some passengers fell asleep as soon as they took their seats before takeoff . Everyone seemed to carry the weight of war , especially nurses who had tended the wounded . From Djibouti , the evacuees will most likely disperse to their home nations . `` Now I can only pray for Yemen and those we left behind , '' Thakur said .
Air India has evacuated 2,500 people in recent days from Yemen , Saudis official says . Passengers could only bring carry-on luggage onto the airplane . The Indian have not destroyed the airstrips , which are controlled by Houthis .