Air strikes kill hospital staff

Tuesday February 16th, 2016

At least eight members of staff working for medical charity MSF are missing and two are dead after a series of air raids on health facilities in northern Syria.

The hospital in Ma’arat Al Numan was reported to be one of four hospitals attacked in the region.

MSF - Medecins sans Frontieres - said its hospital was hit by four missiles in two attacks.

The hospital had 30 beds, 54 staff, two operating theatres and an emergency room - performing some 140 operations a month.

MSF said it was only reconstructed - with help from the charity - in December.

The raid killed five patients, a caretaker and a hospital guard, MSF said. Eight members of staff are still missing.

Massimiliano Rebaudengo, MSF head of mission, said: “The destruction on the MSF supported facility appears to be a deliberate attack on a health structure.

“The destruction of the hospital leaves the local population of around 40,000 people without access to medical services in an active zone of conflict."

Reports said the raids, attributed to the Russians or the Syria government, hit a second hospital in the same town, killing three people.

Two hospitals were also hit in the town of Azaz along with schools.

Tags: A&E | Asia | General Health

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