Almotamar.net -
At least four people were killed on Sunday when a missile hit a hospital supported by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Sa'ada province.
One projectile struck the Shiara Hospital in Razeh district at 9:20 a.m., according to MSF staff members on the ground. The MSF staff has been working in the hospital since November 2015.
"The hospital was hit by a projectile this morning, killing four people, wounding 10," In a statement issued by Doctors Without Borders/M�decins Sans Fronti�res (MSF),
Three of the injured are MSF staff members, two of whom are in critical condition, the medical humanitarian organization said. In addition, several buildings of the medical facility were collapsed.
"The number of casualties could rise as there could still be people trapped in the rubble." The organization said the staff has evacuated and patients are being transferred to Al Goumoury hospital in Sa'ada, which is also supported by MSF.
MSF cannot confirm the origin of the attack, but planes were seen flying over the facility at the time. At least one more projectile fell near the hospital.
"We strongly condemn this incident that confirms a worrying pattern of attacks on essential medical services," said Raquel Ayora, MSF director of operations.
She said that the incident would leave a very fragile population without health care for weeks.
"All warring parties, including the Saudi-led coalition, are regularly informed of the GPS coordinates of the medical sites where MSF works," Ayora said. "There is no way that anyone with the capacity to carry out an airstrike or launch a rocket would not have known that the Shiara Hospital was a functioning health facility providing critical services and supported by MSF."
She called upon all parties to the conflict to respect patients and medical facilities. "Bombing hospitals is a violation of international humanitarian law."
Shiara Hospital had already been bombed before MSF started supporting it, and services were reduced to stabilization, emergency, maternity and lifesaving activities.
This is the third attack on an MSF health facility in the country in the last three months. On October 27, Haydan hospital was destroyed by an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition and on December 3 a health center in Taiz was also hit by the coalition, wounding nine people.
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