Red Cross saves 150 in Aleppo

NEARLY 150 civilians, many disabled or sick, were evacuated overnight from a health facility in Aleppo’s Old City after the army retook the area, the Red Cross said yesterday.

The bodies of 11 people who died at the facility after being caught in crossfire or failing to receive medication had also been retrieved, the humanitarian organisation said.

Syria’s army has recaptured about 80% of the former rebel bastion of east Aleppo since beginning an assault three weeks ago, and tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had carried out an operation overnight with Syria’s Red Crescent (SARC) to evacuate 150 patients and civilians from the Dar al-Safaa facility in the Old City.

Previously an elderly care home, the facility had been expanded to host patients with mental health problems or physical disabilities.

About three dozen other civilians, some of them injured, had also sought refuge there.

ICRC Syria delegation head Marianne Gasser said: “These patients and civilians had been trapped in the area for days because of heavy clashes nearby and as the front line kept drawing closer.

“Many of them cannot move and need special attention and care.”

The two organisations had been trying to evacuate the facility since Tuesday, but had been forced to postpone initial efforts because of heavy fighting.

“Tragically, for some, the operation came too late: 11 people died before the SARC and ICRC teams were able to reach the centre,” they said.