"We were hit with 3 thousand rockets", the Albanian tells how he was evacuated from Israel: I stayed in the basement, I could not take anything from the house

2023-10-10 09:34:00, Aktualitet CNA

"We were hit with 3 thousand rockets", the Albanian tells how he was

Arbër Kallxhia

Arbër Kallxhia is one of the Albanians who arrived Sunday evening from Israel to Albania.

In the "Opinion" show, he recounted the first moments when the rocket attack began, while he said that due to the situation, he could not take anything from the apartment where he lived. Kallxhiu has shown the reasons why he went to Israel and also his experiences at the time of the attack.

Conversation:

Blendi Fevziu: What did you go to Israel for?

Arbër Kallxhia: I stayed about 1 year in Israel. I left for work. I had some friends who worked there and at their invitation I went there. I had a 3-month visa and then applied for a residence permit. I used to work as a barista, then I worked in gas plants. I lived 10 km from Tel Aviv. I was asleep when the bombings happened, I was at home. The day before there were holidays, it was also the New Year and people were laughing a lot. There was no tension at all. In the early hours of the morning the alarms started, they had gone off another 10-15 times and I was used to them. You have to go into shelters when the alarm goes off. We had started by underestimating these alarms. But that day, Israel's defense system was jammed. The bombs started falling on the city. It was 7 a.m. and the bombing began. At first I was sleepy, I tried to find a pair of pants in the basement and I stayed in the basement and then the rockets started, the more serious alarms were made, the explosion noises. In 3 hours, 3 thousand rockets fell. People were alarmed, toads in a state of shock in the basement. I stayed in the basement.

Blendi Fevziu: How did you decide to return?

Arbër Kallxhia: I wanted to return since that day, but it was impossible because there were many terrorists. There was no shuttle service. From 9 o'clock the second bombardment began and then chaos, anxiety began and I had to wait until the next day to leave. The family communicated with the Albanian embassy. At one point, the ambassador picked me up, then online I ordered a taxi that came to me and I ran to the airport, there were many Albanians there. There we took 9 Americans with us. There were 40-50 of us there. I had these clothes that I had left at home. Now I still have anxiety. /CNA