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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

150 patients rescued from Aleppo health facility

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GENEVA: Nearly 150 civilians, most disabled or in need of urgent care, were evacuated overnight from a hospital in Aleppo’s Old City, the first major medical evacuation from the eastern sector, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.


They had been trapped there for days by nearby fighting and as the front line moved closer, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong said, with only five staff to look after them.


“Six children, found alone in nearby streets, aged from seven months to seven years, were also evacuated. The eldest said they had not eaten for two days”, she said.


Eleven patients died from lack of medication or were killed in crossfire before ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent teams could reach them late on Wednesday, the agency said.


Marianne Gasser, head of the ICRC delegation in Syria, who is in Aleppo, said of the evacuees: “Many of them cannot move and need special attention and care.”


The United Nations has said for weeks that some 400 sick and wounded patients require emergency medical evacuation from east Aleppo for treatment, but it was not clear whether the 150 were among them.


— Reuters


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