The woman who found herself out of nowhere and risked the carnage in Vorizia at Heraklion of Crete, spoke about what she lived with her husband in the village.
Speaking to the Star, the woman emphasized that she was with her husband in Vorizia in Heraklion, Crete and almost lost her life in the massacre.
The couple, who were in the gray jeep which was riddled with bullets, described the nightmarish moments they experienced during the bloody incident.
“The dead Evangelia Fragiadakis fell in front of us. If we had a smaller car, we wouldn’t be talking now,” said the shocked eyewitness, describing frame by frame what she saw.
Frame by frame the two minutes of terror
It was 11:14 on Saturday morning, when a security camera at the entrance of the village recorded Fanouris Kargakis leaving his house in his farm car, heading towards the scene of the fight.
Two minutes later, at 11:16, the same camera captured the gray jeep trying to flee the village with a flat tire, having already come under fire.
Inside the vehicle were a man and a woman, a couple from Athens who had traveled to Crete to attend a wedding. Within seconds, they were at the center of a real war.
“We went for coffee in Vorizia and found ourselves in crossfire. There was panic, men, women and children. They were holding irons, I couldn’t understand what was going on. A large black car, probably belonging to Fanouris, stopped next to us.
Then the shooting started. He was 10 meters from us. I saw a woman collapse on the ground. It was the Gospel. He fell before us. Then I saw people gathering around her and crying,” the witness described.
The couple, trying to escape, hit the gas with the car having a flat tire and the car shaking from the force of the fire.
“My husband, instinctively, I don’t know how, continued to drive. One of the bullets hit the driver’s seat. If we had a smaller car, we wouldn’t be talking now. Saints Anargyri saved us. We were saved by a miracle,” he added
The second round of shooting and the panic
The couple managed to move away about 300 meters, towards Zaros. But the terror was not over.
“When we thought things had calmed down, suddenly there were more shots,” the witness continued.
“It was like a second round. Too many shots, everywhere. We called the Police, 112 and roadside assistance, but they told us they couldn’t come because of the fire. They came after three hours.”
Footage from security cameras shows the pair frantically trying to escape, with gunfire behind them.
Nearly 10 days after the massacre, the couple still struggles with nightmares. “We can’t sleep. The sounds of gunfire wake us up every night,” they say.
They have already testified to the authorities, hoping that their testimony will help bring justice and prevent a continuation of this vicious cycle of violence that has marked Vorizia