How journalists fled the tower in Gaza moments before it collapsed
The al-Jalaa building in Gaza City, which housed the two news agency offices as well as other offices and apartments, had been evacuated after the owner received advanced warning of the strike
Israel airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday destroyed a 12-storey tower block which housed the offices of the US-based Associated Press and Qatar-based Al Jazeera news agencies.
The al-Jalaa building in Gaza City, which housed the two news agency offices as well as other offices and apartments, had been evacuated after the owner received advanced warning of the strike, reports Reuters.
Official Israeli sources stated that the building was bombarded because, according to their intelligence recon, the building was used by the Islamist militant group Hamas.
Reminiscing the recent horrific incident, Youmna Al-Sayed, a reporter with the Al-Jazeera news outlet, has described what it was like to flee the tower block in Gaza where her organisation's offices were based, moments before it collapsed after being hit in an Israeli air strike on Saturday, reports the BBC.
Youmna Al-Sayed said they had been given a one-hour warning by Israel on to evacuate the 12-storey building, prompting a scramble to make it out.
In an interview with the BBC, Youmna said, "We know that when we get an evacuation call, we need to act quickly because they might target the building at any time."
"Everyone was running around, on the stairs in the elevators, grabbing their kit, grabbing our cameras, whatever we could get with us, and running quickly, which was really traumatising for us."
"I've seen lots of buildings being targeted and brought down - but when it's your house or your building… it's really devastating," added Youmna.
