An American who was on vacation in Israel is lucky to be alive after he attended the Israeli music festival that was overrun by Hamas terrorists, forcing him to flee for his life.
Liroy Alex, 28, from Chicago, had been attending the festival with a group of friends when partying suddenly turn to panic as the armed terrorists descended from the sky after paragliding over the Israeli border from Gaza less than three miles away.
Along with many others who attended the festival Alex recalled to DailyMail.com how at first he didn’t realize what was unfolding and even joked with friends that organizers had laid on fireworks as part of celebrations.
‘I could hear loud bangs in the area and at first we were joking that took care of fireworks for us. But then they stopped the music to tell us of a rocket attack which is not unusual for the south of Israel,’ Alex explained.
But it quickly became clear that situation was far more serious as gunshots rang out across the festival site.
Liroy Alex, 28, from Chicago, was on vacation at the Supernova music festival in Southern Israel when it was overrun by Hamas terrorists. He was shot twice and glass entered his eye
Liroy Alex, right, together with his friend Eliad Shemesh, who is seen on the phone desperately calling the emergency services to come and rescue them as his girlfriend died by his side
Alex lay on the ground for cover hiding from hundreds of terrorists who were roaming the area
Around 3000 partygoers were attending the Supernova Festival as the music gave way to massacre.
Hundreds of people ran for their lives as they dashed across open fields and raced to parked cars in a frantic bid to make a getaway.
Alex had been attending the overnight party with two friends; Eliad Shemesh and his girlfriend.
Incredibly the trio managed to reach their vehicle and clamber inside, but Hamas terrorists were on their tail.
‘We got to our car and found our route to be empty, despite hundreds leaving at the same time. We noticed in the distance a group of about 20 bikes zig-zagging across the road, holding guns on their shoulder,’ Alex recalled.
‘At first we didn’t know what it was. The girl who was with us started freaking out but I told her to relax telling her nothing would happen.’
Alex managed to take some video of himself as he lay on the ground with blood dripping from his face and running along his heavily tattooed arms
Alex was hit in the lower back twice and suffered a broken hip. Blood can seen seeping through his t-shirt
Festivalgoers raced to leave the scene but did not realize what was occurring. Rocket trails can be seen in the sky above
Alex’s face was covered in cuts after the windshield of his car shattered
Alex and his friend called for help from the police and ambulance service but were only rescued 13 hours after they escaped from the festival
All the while, Alex was behind the wheel driving as quickly as possible in attempt to escape.
‘As we slowed down, we saw another biker being hit. That’s when I decided to turn around and they [the terrorists] started shooting at our car. That was when another road block suddenly appeared.
The group’s vehicle was hit by gunfire several times, shattering windows, sending pieces of glass into Alex‘s eyes.
‘We had no idea what was going on. As we drove past we were shot at. Everything exploded, the glass went everywhere.’
The group’s only route of escape was to drive across nearby fields.
They came under so much firepower that Alex was shot in his lower back twice while his friend’s girlfriend was also hit and suffered a punctured lung.
Eventually, the three could go no further, and stopped at what appeared to be a construction site where they decided to try and call the emergency services.
‘We tried to save the girl. We didn’t know who was shooting at us because we didn’t understand the whole situation that was going on. We just saw two groups and thought it was Arabs living in the desert who decided to make a mess,’ Alex explained.
‘We called police, ambulances, friends – we sent out our location- but it took three hours before we realized nobody was coming.’
The trio had no idea that help was far away with Israeli security services completely overwhelmed by what was occurring both on the music festival site and at nearby kibbutzes and other towns and villages in the area were hundreds were being slaughtered.
Alex normally resides in Chicago but was on vacation in Israel at the time of the attack
Alex says it was simply a matter of luck how he managed to escape with his life
As Alex and his friends waited in the vehicle, his friend’s girlfriend died from her injuries.
‘Over the phone, my friends told me that it was a war zone. We could hear bombs and shooting everywhere. Our friends told us to try and find a way to survive this – good luck!’
Despite the panic, Alex managed to film as confusion and chaos reigned.
Alex recalled how his friend was in such a state of shock that he had still been on the phone, requesting an ambulance to come and reach them, despite the fact the woman had already died.
He managed to take some video of himself as he lay on the ground with blood dripping from his face and running along his heavily tattooed arms.
Running on adrenaline and by sheer luck, Alex and his friend were eventually found by soldiers, 13 hours after the firing first began.
Alex has been in hospital for the past week but is now recuperating with family in Israel
Alex, right, pictured along side his friend Eliad Shemesh, left, who also escaped along with him
Doctors handed him the bullets that ended up in his hip and back, while telling him he is lucky that he is still able to walk after they hit close to his spine
He spent most of the last week recovering in hospital and has undergone a number of operations to repair serious injuries.
Doctors handed him the bullets that ended up in his hip and back, while telling him he is lucky that he is still able to walk after they hit close to his spine.
He is still also without the sight in his left eye and is unsure if it will ever recover completely.
Despite being 5000 miles from home, Alex has been helped by family members in Israel who are helping to look after him.
He hopes to return to his hometown of Chicago, where he works as a locksmith, in the coming weeks.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk