World Health Organization (WHO) director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, did not know whether he would survive an air strike on Yemen’s main airport carried out by Israel on Thursday, reports Al Jazeera.
Tedros told the media that he had received no warning of the Israeli strike and the nearby explosion was so loud it left his ears ringing for more than a day later.
“I was not sure actually I could survive because it was so close, a few metres from where we were,” he said. “A slight deviation could have resulted in a direct hit.”
Tedros said he and his UN colleagues were stuck at the stricken airport for the next hour or so and could hear what was thought to be drones flying overhead, which fed concerns they could open fire again.
Among the debris in the airport terminal, Tedros and his colleagues saw missile fragments.
The WHO chief said his travel itinerary to Yemen had been shared publicly and he expressed surprise that civilian infrastructure was targeted.
“So a civilian airport should be protected, whether I am in it or not,” he said.
“One of my colleagues said we narrowly escaped death. I’m just one human being. So I feel for those who are facing the same thing every single day. But at least it allowed me to feel the way they feel,” he added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
