At least 260 bodies have been recovered from a concert that was one of the first targets in Palestinian militants’ brutal attack on Israel, an Israeli rescue service said Sunday.
Attendees at the Tribe of Nova trance music festival in the southern Negev region recalled their horror as the militants opened fire on the crowd of thousands in the early hours of Saturday.
“We started running; we didn’t know where to go,” Millet Ben Haim told the Washington Post. “Nobody knew what to do.”
Video shared online showed panicked concertgoers running from the sounds of gunfire through the desert.
Attackers from Hamas — which rules Gaza and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and other countries — appeared to abduct some of the ravers, NBC News noted. U.S. and British citizens were among the crowd, the outlet added, citing Israeli officials.
One victim’s naked, apparently lifeless body was paraded by militants in a truck after being abducted from the scene of the concert. She was later identified as German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk, 30.
After footage of the young tattoo artist surfaced, her family pleaded for help.
“We were sent a video in which I could clearly see our daughter unconscious in the car with the Palestinians and them driving around the Gaza Strip,” said Louk’s mother Ricarda. “I ask you to send us any help or news. Thank you very much.”
AP
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis on Saturday. (AP)
Hamas’ unprecedented attacks prompted Israel to declare war on Sunday, striking hundreds of targets in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces collected the bodies of those killed at the concert. They were reportedly placed in a big refrigerated truck near abandoned vehicles.
Concert organizers said on social media they “share the grief of the missing and murdered families,” according to the Post.
“We hope and pray that good news will reach us and you soon,” they added.
Concertgoers described total chaos after militants launched their surprise attack.
“I took the car keys from a friend of mine that was really wasted and got as many people in the car as possible and started driving like crazy,” Ben Haim told the Post. “The people who stayed, most of them got kidnapped or murdered.”
With News Wire Services
Daily News Staff
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