A young Australian student who fled the deadly violence and political unrest in Egypt has told of being mistakenly fired at by police in Cairo.
Melbourne music and law student Sam Hirschfelder, 23, was holidaying in Egypt up until Wednesday when he boarded an Australian government-chartered flight, evacuating people to Frankfurt.
Looking weary and lugging a heavy backpack, Mr Hirschfelder was one of 191 passengers - Australians and New Zealanders - on the Qantas jumbo which landed in Germany on Wednesday night (local time).
"It was chaos, it was mayhem," he told AAP of the situation in Cairo over the past week.
"I was staying really close to Tahrir Square which is where all the action was, getting shot at by police. I saw a lot of police brutality, police beating up protesters. I saw really intense
fighting."
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets in protest over the past week as part of escalating tension, calling for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and an end to his 30-year autocratic rule.
Mr Hirschfelder, who has relatives in Australia and America, said he hadn't told his family in detail what he had endured because he had not wanted to worry them.
"We tried for about an hour getting back to our hotel, we tried going down a street that led to our hotel. It was dark and obviously the police mistook us for protesters so we were shot at,"
he told AAP.
"You could hear the bullets hitting the cars around us so we got out of there pretty fast."
That night, Mr Hirschfelder was offered protection by an Egyptian man and his family.
"I guess a good thing I witnessed was the generosity and lovely nature of the Egyptian people," he said.
"When I was shot at, I couldn't get back to the hotel and went to the army and they couldn't help me and this Egyptian family took me in ... he gave me a bed, he gave me clothes, food.
"
Mr Hirschfelder said he was "not disturbed" by what he witnessed in Cairo and that it wouldn't prevent him returning to the country.
"I actually find it really really moving to be there at that time ... I went (to Egypt) to see tombs and pyramids and historical sites and I saw a revolution."
Wednesday's flight arrived in Frankfurt half-empty following government reports the aircraft was at capacity.
Consular officials in Germany have confirmed a second Qantas evacuation flight out of Cairo will go ahead on Thursday but it is unknown how many people are registered for the flight.
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