MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippines on Saturday ordered Filipinos working in southern Lebanon to "pack up and run,'' while Australia was investigating reports that some of its citizens had been caught up in the fighting in the troubled Middle Eastern nation. 

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs said it was checking reports that Australians trapped in the southern Lebanese town of Aitaroun may have been injured by Israeli air strikes overnight, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported, as the country continued to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Lebanon. 

More than 600 Indian evacuees from Lebanon returned home Saturday as officials reportedly prepared to rescue 400 others in the largest overseas civilian evacuation ever conducted by the Indian navy. 

Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, meanwhile, said one flight carrying Australians would leave Saturday from Cyprus, where hundreds of Australians have been brought by ship from Beirut.  

Others would follow in the coming days. Philippine officials told Filipino workers in southern Lebanon to evacuate because of an impending attack by Israeli forces, a government spokesman said. 

"Pack up and run,'' said Gilbert Asuque, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs. "All Filipinos, get out of there and go to the embassy or the relocation sites. We don't want our Filipinos to be caught in the crossfire.'' 

Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said there could be up to 2,000 Filipinos in southern Lebanon, which came under heavy Israeli fire in the early hours of Saturday. 

He said the Philippine government has asked the Vatican to open the doors of more Catholic churches in Lebanon to Filipinos fleeing the fighting. Two Roman Catholic churches in Beirut have been providing shelter to Filipinos and Thais seeking refuge. 

Australia's ambassador to Lebanon, Lyndall Sachs, said the government holds "grave concerns'' for about 400 Australian families living in southern Lebanon, and the foreign affairs department has urged them to flee if it is safe to do so. 

About 800 Australians were pulled from Lebanon on Friday, bringing the total number of evacuees so far to 1,600, the ABC reported Saturday. 

Downer has said the government expects to move up to 6,000 citizens out of Lebanon on board six chartered vessels by late Sunday. Downer said the evacuation is expected to cost A$25 million (US$19 million, euro15 million). 

Two planes belonging to India's national carrier Air India flew 602 evacuees to Bombay and Madras from Larnaca in Cyprus, a day after an Indian naval vessel brought them there from the port in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. 

Press Trust of India reported at least 400 more Indians were waiting to be evacuated from Lebanon, adding that three other Indian ships were on their way to the region. - AP