October 7 survivor 'hid in a hole and played dead' as she tells LBC of Nova Music Festival kidnap attempt
May Hayat has told LBC how she survived the Nova Music Festival attack that killed 411 people.
A victim of the October 7 terrorist attack at the Nova Music Festival has told LBC how she managed to survive, and called on people to hear the stories of what they faced that day.
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On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants attacked the Nova Music Festival, killing 411 attendees and taking 43 hostage.
May Hayat was working as a bartender at the music festival and survived by hiding in a hole and playing dead beneath the bodies of other victims.
She told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that before the attack, everything had seemed normal. "The atmosphere, the energy, the people, like everything was perfect and beautiful," she said.
She said they first noticed rockets flying overhead, but as they were used to rockets in this area, she waited in the fields for them to stop. However, she soon realised a massive attack was underway, and heard that terrorists were outside.
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She recalled that she hid inside a police command post, adding: "And then four police officers came in, and one of them yelled that we need to run for our lives and to pray as hard as we can.
"So I ran to the open field, then I met someone, we ran together, I didn't meet him before, and we hid inside a hole, and we heard the gunshots all over."
She continued: "Then we heard footsteps on the dry leaves, and then we heard someone standing above us and laughing and whistling to another one.
"And they pulled me first, and then I found myself with eight terrorists in civilian clothes with weapons.
"One of them was 14-year-old child with flip-flops and a knife in his hand. The main leader was with the explosive device and a walkie-talkie, and then they pulled Avi, the guy that was with me, and he begged them and he offered the money.
"And when I saw their reaction, I realised that that's what they're looking for. They want to see us as victims and afraid.
"So I told myself that I have to be strong and resilient. And I looked at Avi, and I told him that everything is going to be fine and that you have to get up."
She explained that she was told by one man that she would be taken to Gaza as a hostage. She said that Avi was murdered in front of her eyes, stabbed several times in the neck.
"Then they want to get me in a car, but the car didn't start," she recalled. "And I had a lot of miracles there, and suddenly the main leader told me to come with him, and instead of going towards Gaza, we were now going back to the festival area."
She said she was in survival mode and tried to show no fear. Eventually, she was told by the man to "go", so she ran and hid under a stage and covered herself with blood from the dead bodies to disguise herself. She was later rescued by the Israeli army.
May called on people to visit the Nova Exhibition in London, where each day survivors and family members speak about what happened, what they lost, and what they carry.
She said: "I invite everyone to bear witness. It's so important that the world should see what happened at a music festival.
"It's not about Israel, it's about festival music, about people that came to dance and terrorists that murdered us.
"It's important to us that you will come and support us and see what happened."