'Hamas kept firing at our car': Thai evacuees recount attack

15 citizens return home; authorities look for more aircraft as 6,000 wait

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Thai citizens evacuated from Israel arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on Oct. 12. (Photo by Adryel Talamantes)

APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writer

BANGKOK -- Fifteen Thai citizens evacuated from Israel arrived in Thailand on Thursday, reuniting with their families and sharing the frightening experiences they endured during the Hamas attack over the weekend. Authorities plan to arrange more flights to bring Thais home from the war-hit Middle Eastern country as the death toll among Thai nationals reached 21.

"I am delighted that I finally survived," a young man sitting in a wheelchair told reporters after landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. "The fighting intensified in the morning and my employer tried to drive me away from the scene, but [Hamas] kept firing into our car and I was shot in my knee," he said.

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