Medical Evacuations for 150 Civilians from Aleppo Frontline

Nearly 150 civilians, most of whom were disabled or in urgent need of care, were evacuated late last night (7 November) from a hospital in the Old City of Aleppo, in a joint operation by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  

Dar Al-Safaa, originally an elderly home whose role expanded because of the crisis, had been accommodating patients with mental health needs or physical disabilities. Three dozen other civilians, a number of them injured, had also sought refuge there and had been trapped there for days because of heavy clashes nearby and as the frontline draws closer.

118 patients were taken to Aleppo's Al-Razi, University or Ibn Khaldoun hospitals, while 30 men, women and children, were transferred to shelters in Western Aleppo. Six orphaned and very young children were amongst the evacuees.

A first evacuation mission was aborted on Tuesday because of very heavy clashes in the area.  Finally, yesterday afternoon the SARC with support from the ICRC, managed to reach premises in the Al-Meshatyeh neighborhood after it was retaken by Government forces and the fighting died down.

Tragically the operation came too late for some: 11 people died before the SARC and ICRC team were able to reach the centre. They were either caught in the crossfire or died because they did not have access to the right medications. The SARC also evacuated their human remains, so they can be properly identified and returned to their families, and accorded the appropriate funeral rites.

The ICRC and SARC stand ready to act as a neutral intermediary between all sides, and to assist civilians in areas of heavy fighting inside Eastern Aleppo where the humanitarian situation is known to be catastrophic. The ICRC urgently calls on all parties to allow a humanitarian pause and to provide the necessary security guarantees.

For further information, please contact:

Pawel Krzysiek, ICRC Damascus, tel: +963 993 700 847
Ralph El Hage, ICRC Amman, tel: +962 7 7845 4382
Krista Armstrong, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 37 23 or +41 79 447 37 26

PHOTO CREDITS

Image 1 - Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC provide care for a patient evacuated from the Old City of Aleppo. © Noor Hazouri / SARC

Image 2 - Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC evacuate civilians from the Old City of Aleppo. © Noor Hazouri / SARC

SHOTLIST

Location: Aleppo, Syria

Length: 0:38

ICRC ref: AV575N

Date: 7 December 2016

Copyright: ICRC access all

0:00 ICRC and SARC teams entering the Old City yesterday, to evacuate civilians from the elderly home.