Apia, SAMOA — The last group of 16 Samoan adults and a year-old toddler have returned home safely after a frightening experience in Israel as they went through bomb shelters and were told to hide minutes before departure at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

They landed at the Faleolo International Airport on Friday after surviving life threatening encounters, something most people in the Pacific do not have to go through.

The one-year-old travelled with his parents who were amongst the group of 21 members of the Samoa Prayer for Israel group who travelled to Israel over a week ago for a conference.

Hours prior to their departure from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, the Samoa Prayer for Israel group had a life-threatening encounter as they were about to board their plane. Members of the group had only seen such scenarios play out in movies but this was no fiction.

Amongst the group was a 34-year-old mother, Tina Peter who broke down in tears at the airport the moment she got out of the arrival and saw her two boys waiting for her.

Read details at The Observer