The day before yesterday, after unloading the cargo he was transporting from France to Kosovo, for the local thermal-electric power plants, at about 10 o'clock he ended up stuck between two barricades on the main street in Obilic. He turned into one of the side streets, but ended up face to face with a large group of ethnic Albanian demonstrators.
"Everything happened extremely fast and I had no chance to do anything. They opened the door on my truck, pulled me out, threw me on the pavement and started hitting me. They were hitting me all over. Only my thick overcoat saved me from serious injuries," Panov says.
At one point he managed to get away from the mob and started running away.
"When I turned around I realized that three or four of them were running after me. I entered a health center, but they followed me inside and continued to beat me. The Police observed all of this but failed to react. Even worse, I suffered the worst beating inside the health center. At one point I was convinced that I was going to die, but then one of the patients in the hospital interceded and carried me with the director to one of the offices," Panov continues. Visible injuries can be seen on his head, chest and legs, which hurt the most, he says.
After receiving first aid at the health center, Panov attempted to return to his truck. However, he was told that the vehicle had first been driven away and then totally wrecked. Then, Panov was moved to a more secure location in Pristina.
Yesterday morning Panov crossed the border between Macedonia and Kosovo, with the assistance of the Macedonian police. By 12 noon he was in Probistip, where he was welcomed by his loved ones, wife Svetlana and two minor children, son Robert and daughter Natasa.
"I heard about the incident on the radio news and since then have been waiting for any information about his condition," wife Svetlana relates through tears.
In Obilic, besides being beaten, Panov was also robbed. He lost his complete documentation, both his personal documents and papers for the vehicle. Also, 500 Euros were stolen from the truck.