MSF LEBANON: Mass casualty influx at Rafik Hariri Public Hospital
At around 2pm on Sunday 5th April, Israeli forces struck a densely populated residential area in Beirut, only meters from Rafik Hariri Public Hospital, where MSF is supporting with an ER doctor.
A mass-casualty influx followed: people bleeding, some carried on shoulders. 5 people were killed, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese migrants, while 52 people, including 8 children, were wounded, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health.
“We are seeing elderly people and adolescents arriving with critical injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, including shrapnel wounds, when strikes hit crowded residential areas without warning, the consequences are severe: both in human casualties and in hospitals’ capacity to respond,” said Dr. Luna Hammad, MSF Medical Coordinator, who was part of an MSF team at Rafik Hariri Public Hospital, supporting with the emergency.
“A man arrived with severe bleeding from his head, panicked, searching for his young child who was also injured. Only after learning his son was safe did he allow doctors to tend to him —then we realized he had lost his ear.”
These are not isolated incidents. Yesterday alone, 39 people were killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon, bringing the death toll in Lebanon since 2 March to 1,461, according to official sources.
MSF condemns this attack on civilians in a highly populated area and calls for the protection of civilians and health facilities. Strikes this close to a hospital spread fear and can stop people from seeking lifesaving care. MSF is donating a mass-casualty kit and will continue supporting hospitals with medical expertise and essential medical and non-medical supplies. Civilians cannot be collateral damage.