IT began with a dull thud on our left followed by a second, stronger blast that shook our car.Then, just 50ft away, the roof of a family home burst into a ball of flames as a Katyusha rocket ploughed into it.
A mother of three, her hands clutching her face, ran screaming into the debris-strewn street as flames licked through the shattered suburban home.
A little girl of six dashed from her nearby bomb shelter clutching her dolly, her eyes streaming tears.
Sun photographer Phil Hannaford and I had been caught up in a terrifying Hezbollah missile attack on the frontline town of Nahariya in northern Israel yesterday.
This was no surgical strike, no precision bombing raid.
Rockets rained down willy-nilly on families and the elderly. One man was left dead and 20 injured in indiscriminate blasts which have become a daily reality for the seaside town — population 33,000.
We witnessed the terror as we drove through Nahariya in our hired Chevrolet. The guerilla group’s latest attack was announced with the wailing of sirens above pretty eucalyptus-lined streets. The force of the strike on the family home sent twisted metal hurtling 30ft.
A middle-aged neighbour, blood pouring from leg wounds, pointed at the burning building and said: “The Lettice family live there but they have gone. The only reason many people weren’t killed is because we were all deep in the ground in our bomb shelters.”
Weeping mum-of-three Rachel Friedman, 34, said: “I am so terrified for my children.
“We have been attacked for seven days now but this was the worst. You can’t stay in a shelter 24 hours a day.” Mercifully, no one was killed.
But in another blast in the once-sleepy town, a dead man was pulled from the tangled mass of steel and masonry. He had ventured from his bomb shelter after leading his family to safety.
A neighbour said: “For some reason he decided to come out.
“As he ran out he was hit by the missile. It’s a tragedy.”
The death brought the seven-day toll in Israel to at least 25. In Lebanon, at least 227 people have been killed.
Russian-designed Katyushas have a range of about 13 miles but are notoriously inaccurate. Hezbollah has fired hundreds into northern Israel since the latest conflict began last week.
A British couple have been caught up in the fighting. Engineering worker Chris Bale, from Liverpool, said: “I thought the whole thing would blow over quickly. Most of the time you forget about it but two rockets landed very close by and that quickly reminds you.”
Wife Carol, who arrived for a visit on Friday, said: “I haven’t left the hotel since I got here.”
Nahariya is the home of Ehud Goldwasser, one of the Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, which sparked the current conflict.
The Holy Land town — just six miles from Hezbollah’s launch pads over the border in Lebanon — was a popular seaside resort before last week.
Last night, three-quarters of the inhabitants had fled south.
The golden beaches and nearby funfair bordering the Mediterranean were deserted.
But security guard Euginy Rubin, 25, vowed to stay.
He said: “I’m not going anywhere. This is my home. I’m not scared by Hezbollah.”
Like many here, he supports Israel’s revenge attacks.
He added: “We are under attack, of course I want us to respond. Are we supposed to ignore our people being killed?”
Above the sound of the seagulls last night was the roar of Israeli war planes.
The F16s were streaming into Lebanon on bombing sorties — as the deadly cycle of blood and mayhem continued.
