They were part of the 100 civilians evacuated from the plant to safety, a remarkable development as past evacuation efforts have failed over and over. the washington post reporting on the civilians now safe telling their stories like this, quote, women and the elderly said that they had lived for more than a month without sunlight as fear pervaded and food dwindled, russian bombardments struck the sprawling complex so hard that dust swirled down from the bunker s ceiling. when several dozen civilians finally stepped above ground friday to meet a u.n.-backed evacuation convoy, that first daylight in weeks felt like it was burning people s eyes as the scene they witnessed sent some into shock. on the one hand seeing the sky for the first time but on the other, seeing the destroyed city, said the u.n. humanitarian coordinator for ukraine, but today the mayor of mariupol confirming to nbc news that he had lost contact with the remaining ukrainian defenders of that steel plant as russia c