Their neighbours above were not so fortunate.
Israelis have placed great faith in the sophisticated array of anti-missile systems to keep them safe, but they have always known the defensive shield is not foolproof.
The shelters were their ultimate peace of mind.
Israel’s government places a huge emphasis on the importance of taking refuge in certified bunkers during air raids. “Follow the instructions – they save lives,” is the constant refrain.
In modern high-rises, where there might not be time to reach a subterranean bunker, each floor is now equipped with a safe room.
Following the tragedy in Petah Tikva, the Home Front Command was forced to state that the reinforced concrete shelters were not designed to withstand “direct hits”, after conceding that the Iranian missile “breached” the structure, causing it to collapse.
A safe room in a building in Jerusalem. Credit: Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
The four who died here on Sunday (Monday AEST) were among eight at locations across Israel, bringing the total to 24. About 300 have been hospitalised.
Iran is thought to still have possibly more than 1000 ballistic missiles at its disposal.
On Monday (Tuesday AEST), visibly shaken residents removed their belongings, picking a path between the broken glass and debris on the ground.
Asked how safe she felt after the previous night, a desperate look crossed Ferig’s face. “We don’t know how this could happen,” she said.
Israelis run for a shelter amid warnings of an incoming rocket strike from the Gaza Strip in 2021.Credit: Getty Images
More than 300 families have now been evacuated from this and the neighbouring apartment blocks.
This neighbourhood is typical of modern Israel, where many people want to live and property is expensive. A large percentage of the population lives in high-rises.
As well as the two people who died in the breached shelter, a third was killed on a different floor who was not in a safe room. The fourth, also outside a designated bomb shelter, was killed by the shockwave in the adjacent building.
In addition, an 86-year-old man died in the central city of Bnei Brak and there were three fatalities in the northern port city of Haifa.
Anat Rubinshtein was trying to gather herself together as she evacuated her apartment block with a couple of small bags and a box of treats for her beloved shih tzu, Milkie.
She was on nodding terms with one of the four people who died in the adjacent block after it suffered a direct hit from an Iranian missile.
“He was a dog-lover too,” she said. “I never asked his name, but I used to see him out with his dog. It’s so sad.”
A view of an empty bomb shelter as Israelis brace themselves for retaliation from Iran.Credit: Getty Images
Although the identities of the four people known to have died in the strike in Petah Tikvah have not yet been released, it has been revealed that two were in a designated shelter.
Rubinshtein herself never misses a siren and was in her own shelter on the second floor of her building when the impact took place.
“I feel the shelters don’t protect us any more,” she said. “I was thinking last night, should I try to make it underground where maybe I would be safer, but in the end, I stuck with protocol. If I’d been in that building …”
As Israel entered the afternoon, bulldozers were busy demolishing a playground at the foot of the stricken apartment block after it was damaged by the blast.
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Most of the cars in the car park have caved-in windscreens, smashed windows and strange dents from the shockwave.
Those not forced to evacuate the many similar high-rises in Petah Tikva now face an uncertain future, as Israel and Iran continue to trade airstrikes.
The Telegraph, London
Bunker-busting missile strike shakes Israelis’ faith in their safety
