Lebanese Seek Safety in Parking Garage

BEIRUT, July 24, 2006 — -- The humanitarian crisis in southern Lebanon continues to escalate as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah persists.

We found hundreds of people scrambling for a safe way out today, through the southern city of Tyre.

There was a frantic scene at the dock as a German ship came to rescue stranded Europeans. In the chaos, we met a mother who'd lost track of her two sons, and the ship set sail without them onboard.

The south is now so dangerous some civilians are being struck twice. Two cars were racing to the hospital carrying people who had been injured in one Israeli airstrike when a second explosive hit their vehicles.

No one is safe. Today Israeli warplanes targeted a convoy of ambulances, even though the vehicles were clearly marked with a bright red cross. Paramedics from two different ambulances were among the wounded.

We visited one hospital where many of the victims were children. One girl told us, "The first bomb hit my mother. The second hit the leg of my grandmother and she died."

To find safety from Israel's airstrikes, 1,000 Lebanese residents have sought refuge in an underground parking garage in South Beirut.

The garage is beneath a shopping mall that is still under construction. Each of the three floors now houses 350 families, with each family receiving one parking spot.

The floor is concrete, and there's no ventilation. Families are given mattresses, food and medicine from Hezbollah, which helps ensure their loyalty.

One girl we spoke with said the group is financing the housing, "because they help us and don't want us to die."

There is a playground for the kids and a giant TV where parents can follow the news.

But what's most important is that it's underground, and is relatively safe from the bombs.