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A small number of people evacuated from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol chose not to leave the city, according to the UN’s humanitarian chief in Ukraine. 

About 30 people were “horrified” by the total devastation and first wanted to find out if their loved ones were still alive, Osnat Lubrani said. 

“These are people that have lived their lives and worked in Mariupol and so it was difficult for them to just leave without knowing what the fate of their loved ones is,” she said.

Roughly 100 people were evacuated from the steelworks and they finally made it to the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia. 

Ms Lubrani said there are still civilians trapped in the complex but the UN does not have any numbers. 

“Some of them may have been afraid to come out, some of them probably couldn’t make it,” she said.

Some of the elderly people staying in the complex could hardly walk and it is a “huge area”, she added. 

However, she hoped the successful evacuation would encourage more civilians to come forward to be evacuated if another operation manages to go ahead.