'Exhausted mums' from Afghanistan walked through Manchester Airport this week carrying nothing other than their sleeping babies in their arms and a single bag of everything they now own.
Planes made up of '50% children' landed in the city on Wednesday and Thursday.
Youngsters were seen shivering as they walked off the plane in the same pair of shorts and T-shirt they had fled their country in.
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Paramedics from North West Ambulance Service were on the airfield as soon as the plane landed to check everyone over.
Crews had been briefed about "what to expect" as well as "one or two" emergencies mid-flight but everyone on board was given a check over by local doctors, nurses and GPs in the terminal.
One volunteer for St Johns Ambulance Service, Michael Nicholson, told the Manchester Evening News: "The children looked tired, some parents were carrying their little ones, you could tell they had all been on a long journey - they looked exhausted and just wanted to get on a coach to where they were going.
"We did the maths and I have got a feeling that the flight that landed on Thursday would have taken off at around the same time that the airport [in Afghanistan] came under attack so whether they saw that or it happened just after - they were in the area when things went wrong over there.
"The thing we did notice as they were coming out the airport is a lot of children were only wearing shorts and a top. They've come from Afghanistan where it's been really hot, they've come through the terminal where it's been warm and they've come outside and realised that Manchester is not hot at 1 o'clock in the morning and they were all just shivering. So what we did was we just started giving out blankets and handing them to children and parents.
"They were going on coaches, some of them as far as Milton Keynes and so it's another long journey and they can just use those blankets as pillows and stuff or keep them wrapped up and warm."
He added: "It wasn't as bad as stories from Birmingham. I think in Manchester we've been more fortunate - we've only had 2, 3, 4 flights come in and our flights that have come in have been using normal commercial airlines so the people who have come out haven't been rammed onto these cargo planes, there is a bit more limit into how much capacity can be put onto these planes and you can't overfill them, so the journey over has been a bit better for them.
"They've been able to sit down. The air stewards have been able to feed, look after and water them. So once they've arrived in Manchester they've had a chance to settle a bit and rest and have the chance to recover from everything they've been through in Afghanistan."
He continued: "They were coming off the plane, only carrying a bag of stuff and it's the stark contrast. We were using Terminal 3 which is shut at the moment but you had these people coming off, literally carrying all that they now own and then in the background people parking up in the multi-storey car park with their luggage ready to go abroad.
"We could literally see the contrast of people who have fled for their lives and the people who are going to put their feet up."
