Survivor of Israeli airstrike in Lebanon recounts hours under the rubble

(29 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Ain el Delb, east of Sidon, Lebanon – 30 September 2024
1. Rescuers pull Hecham al-Baba from under the rubble of a residential building that collapsed following an Israeli airstrike

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sidon, Lebanon – 10 October 2024
2. Various of al-Baba holding phone showing when he was pulled from under the rubble. UPSOUND (Arabic) Hecham al Baba, survivor of attack:
"Here, I am still inside."
"They are getting me out."
3. Rescuers move al-Baba on stretcher during rescue
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hecham al-Baba, survivor of attack who lost his four family members:
"I knew that the rocket had hit the apartment. The loud sound and the way I was thrown by it – I knew the rocket hit the house."
5. Close of al-Baba’s eyes and stitched forehead
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hecham al-Baba, survivor of attack who lost his four family members:
“I got up and as I was opening the door and calling my sister ‘Donize,’ the second rocket hit. I was brought to the ground.”
7. Al-Baba reenacting the position he was stuck in for hours under the rubble UPSOUND (Arabic) Hecham al-Baba: "I couldn’t turn my neck around. I stayed on the ground this way, unable to move. A wall to this side, and a wall to this side. Nothing in front of me, and it is pitch dark."
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hecham al-Baba, survivor of attack who lost his four family members:
"I thought I was in the end of nowhere, no one will know about me, and I will die right here. I was shouting ‘Donize, Mohyaldeen, Ali, Nermin’ with no answer. Our phones are ringing. The phones are ringing. I can hear them but they were not answered. If anyone answered the phone, it would have meant someone was alive. No one answered the phones. I knew they were dead. It was very difficult. My face was flushed with blood, bloated and red."
9. Al-Baba showing photos of his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew on his phone, UPSOUND (Arabic) Hecham al-Baba: "This is my sister with her son. This is my brother-in-law and my sister."
10. Silhouette of al-Baba lighting a cigarette, UPSOUND (Arabic) Hecham al Baba: "It is a loss. Losing my sister is a huge loss."
11. Tree house and tree still standing after collapse of residential building following Israeli airstrike
12. Various of rubble and debris
STORYLINE:
A survivor recalls what it felt like to be trapped for hours under the rubble in pitch black darkness after an Israeli air raid hit the six-story residential building in Lebanon in September.

It was Sunday, family time for most in Lebanon, and Hecham al-Baba was visiting his sister.

She insisted he and their older brother stay for lunch, hoping to prolong the warm gathering in stressful times.

The brother declined. Like many in Lebanon, he hadn’t been sleeping because of Israel’s intensifying airstrikes, so he left to take a nap.

The 60-year-old al-Baba, on his annual visit from Germany to see his family in Lebanon, stayed.

His sister Donize even convinced him to call an old flame over for coffee.

He excitedly stepped into the bathroom to clean up before his visitor arrived.

Within seconds, a huge boom shook the basement apartment.

Al-Baba fell to the floor.

Something hit him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him.

He pulled himself up and reached for the door, screaming his sister’s name.

A second explosion threw him back to the floor.

The bathroom ceiling – and the whole building above it – collapsed on his back.

An Israeli air raid hit the six-story residential building in Ain el Delb, a neighborhood outside the coastal city of Sidon.

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