The crisis centre at the Foreign Affairs Ministry is doing its utmost to help bring back 100 Maltese nationals who are still in Libya and who want to leave the country.

“The crisis centre receives and makes anywhere from 800 to 1,000 calls a day,” a ministry spokesperson told the media during a tour of the centre this morning.

The crisis centre operates 24/7, is a permanent department and was not specifically set up for the Libya crisis, the media was told.

The centre is using Google Earth software to monitor the situation in areas where Maltese nationals are currently residing in Tripoli and surrounding areas.

This portal asked a crisis centre employee, who worked at the centre three years ago during the Gaddafi revolution, if the way the centre is operating this time around is different to how it operated three years ago.

He said that this time around the centre is more organised since dealing with the crisis three years ago was a first experience for the centre.

On Sunday, the Maltese government admitted for the first time since the crisis in Libya started that the situation was escalating.

Questions about specific issues asked by journalists during the visit were not given an answer. In particular, the media asked questions about the plight of Maltese worker Martin Galea, who was kidnapped earlier this month. No information was made available.

In another development, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil was seen entering the Prime Minister's office in Castille. No details of the meeting were made available, but it is understood that Dr Busuttil is being updated on developments pertaining to the situation in Libya.

Later this evening, the government said that a Libyan patient was being brought over to Malta on an air ambulance from Tripoli.