A cameraman filming in Iraq with the ITN reporter Terry Lloyd recounted the terrifying moment when they came under fierce fire from American troops, which killed his colleague.
Daniel Demoustier told an inquest into Mr Lloyd's death that he was convinced he was going to die as American tanks opened fire on the ITN convoy as it approached Basra in southern Iraq on March 22, 2003.
Mr Demoustier, a Belgian national, said he managed to leap from the vehicle he was in with Mr Lloyd moments before it exploded after coming under heavy machine gun fire.
Mr Lloyd and his Lebanese interpreter Hussein Osman died in the "friendly-fire" incident, while Fred Nerac, a French cameraman who was also part of the ITN team, is still officially missing. They were travelling independently of coalition forces to interview civilians about the first few days of the Iraq war.
Speaking on the fifth day of the inquest at Oxford's Old Assizes, Mr Demoustier said that the team had been driving towards a bridge in civilian traffic when they spotted Iraqi troops coming towards them and turned round.
The vehicle carrying Mr Nerac and Mr Osman was stopped by the troops and then Mr Demoustier said another Iraqi military vehicle pulled up beside him and the soldiers inside give him a thumbs-up sign.
He said: "At that same time gunfire started. It was definitely not coming from right with me - it came from a distance.
"Immediately I ducked down under the steering wheel. Then hell broke loose completely. I was under my steering wheel and tried to drive. I kept my foot on the pedals and the car was still going but I couldn't see where I was going. The machine gun's fire was directly targeting my car.
"I was absolutely sure I was going to die, I was 100-per cent sure. I realised that at this stage the fire was coming from the automatic machine guns and the power of these things is amazing.
"I stuck my head to the right and I saw my passenger door was open and Terry was not in the car."
The 44-year-old said that he then looked up and saw that the team's petrol cans on the car's roof had ignited and set the roof ablaze. He threw himself out just as the car exploded.
He said: "The only cover I had was the black smoke of the car and I used that. I felt no danger from behind me [where the Iraqi forces were firing towards the American tanks]. Most of the bullets were definitely coming from the American tanks and I could see the sand going up all around me all the time."
Mr Demoustier said that he lay in the sand and mud for up to half an hour before trying to stand.
He said: "I tried to get up and put my hands in the air facing the US tanks because I couldn't imagine that they couldn't see I was driving a clearly marked Western Kuwaiti rented four-wheel drive with TV signs all over it.
"These guys have high-powered binoculars and can see every detail from hundreds of yards away. I couldn't believe they were shooting at me."
But as he stood up, the tanks began shooting at him again, and he returned to his position in the sand. He said he looked behind him to search for his colleagues and saw the second ITN vehicle parked up with the doors open.
He said: "That was very hopeful for me. I realised that Terry might have jumped out when the first gunfire started and he might have survived."
The hearing continues.
