Living in a city that is constantly rocked by explosives is a continual source of terror, according to the first Bangladeshis evacuated home after escaping Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.

The first 54 of the 1,800 Bangladeshis who wanted to leave the unstable Mediterranean country took a government-sponsored aircraft back to Dhaka late Monday.

For a very unclear economic future back home, several people left behind established lifestyles in Lebanon.

According to Bangladesh’s foreign ministry, between 70,000 and 100,000 of its citizens are employed in Lebanon, primarily as domestic helpers or labourers.

Abul Kashem, 68, has lived in Beirut, the coastal city of Lebanon, for over 40 years, including throughout periods of intense civil war fighting. The flurry of attacks that started last month was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Before it was turned to ruins, Kashem, who worked at a petrol station, remarked, “I have never seen any war like this.”

After arriving tired on a jet provided by the United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration, he declared, “Everything around the fuel pump where I worked has been destroyed.”

Last month, Israel significantly up its airstrikes on the Hezbollah organisation in Lebanon.

Since then, it has begun a ground invasion aimed at driving the group away from its northern boundary.

Over the past year, Hezbollah has been launching hundreds of missiles into Israel, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes.

• “Very intense”

The Bangladeshi labourers were caught up in a fight that broke out all around them as they tried to make money to bring home to their families in South Asia.

Mohammad Hossain, 28, who returned from Beirut with his wife and a one-year-old child, stated, “Five buildings near my residence were brought to the ground.”

He continued by saying, “The attacks were so intense.” “The vehicles are on the verge of melting.”

An AFP assessment of Lebanese health ministry numbers shows that at least 1,489 people have died in Lebanon in nearly a month of full-scale conflict.

According to Bangladesh’s Business Standard daily, hundreds of people have fled Israeli border areas north into Lebanon, and at least five Bangladeshi nationals were among those injured.

As family welcomed the returnees, some of whom were crying, Hossain remarked, “I feel very good after returning to my home country.”

“As soon as the plane took off from the Lebanon airport, I felt at ease.”

Since Bangladesh is going through a political transition following a student-led revolution that overthrew the government, those returning must now find employment at home.

Sheikh Hasina, the dictatorial former leader, was removed from office on August 5.

According to the World Bank, their families would be deeply affected by their loss of income in a country where personal remittances account for almost 5% of GDP.

The foreign ministry of Bangladesh stated that Dhaka is paying for the flights and that a further 65 individuals will be returning on Tuesday.

Ruma Khatun, 30, claimed she was one of the first to sign up to leave after initially fleeing to Beirut in search of safety but then feeling unsafe there as well.

She declared, “The situation is very bad.” “We heard the sound of bombing as we were leaving Lebanon.”