moments of panic Tg1 from that 8 p.m on Tuesday, October 10th: theCorrespondent Matteo Alviti risked his life during a live connection due to an attack by Hamas in Ashkelon, on the border with Gaza Strip.
Alviti: “Ten seconds and I would have died”
“Ten seconds and I would have been dead,” Alviti explained after narrowly escaping.
The journalist was with the operator Maurizio Calaiò and the producer Sahera Dirbas when several rockets hit the areaHotel Regina in which they stay.
The impact occurred just a few seconds earlier at a short distance from the vehicle they were in: it damaged the car and destroyed another nearby car.
The first connection to Tg1
“Our car was hit by shrapnel,” the correspondent said in a report broadcast on the 8 p.m. edition of the News, which showed images of the car and the area attacked. We got out just seconds before the rocket hit. The airbags have obviously burned out, the keys are still in the dashboard.”
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The second connection and the escape
Next there was one second live link. While Alviti explained that another rocket exploded in front of the hotel and a third not far away, he had to escape and made his way to the hotel bunker while the sirens warned that a new attack was underway.
The connection is lost. The moderator of Tg1, Giorgia Cardinalettishortly afterwards assured that the editorial team had managed to contact Alviti and that the correspondent was doing well.
Alviti was then reached by phone. “We’re all fine,” he said. As is often the case, the alarm has been sounded and we have a few seconds to reach the bunker area as Gaza is only 10 kilometers away and the rockets take a very short time to get here.”
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The correspondent added that “the attack on the hotel is probably not accidental.” “We witnessed an anonymous phone call in Arabic,” he explained, in which the man said: “If I were you, I would leave.”
“There is still no number of dead and injured,” he concluded. More than a hundred rockets were fired.”
Photo source: ANSA What are Hamas, Intifada and the Gaza Strip: The glossary for understanding the war between Israel and Palestine