'Bodies were ripped apart, flesh everywhere': Hospital workers describe Syrian 'massacre'

Medical workers have described the horrific scenes after more than 130 civilians were wounded in a “massacre” by regime warplanes in Syria.

A hospital director said “bodies were everywhere - on the tables, in the hallways, on the floor” as doctors struggled to treat 130 people injured in air strikes on Thursday.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 17 civilians, including a woman and child, were killed in the bombardment of the city.

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Medical workers supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said fighter jets started launching missiles at the town centre at around 3pm local time.

The hospital director, who wished to remain anonymous, said the sound of explosions was “deafening” as buildings were reduced to rubble.

He added: “Bodies ripped apart, flesh everywhere. This is a massacre. This is carnage. Total destruction that is hard to describe; a state of hysteria took over, first among the families looking for their loved ones, neighbours searching for their neighbours, and then it spread to us medical staff.”

Casualties started flooding in “with horrific injuries” minutes after the strikes hit and the 12-bed makeshift hospital was quickly overwhelmed.

The director said: “Bodies were everywhere - on the tables, in the hallways, on the floor. The floor was full of blood.

“Medical staff and volunteers picked their way between the bodies of the wounded, doing what they could.

“We received more than 100 injured people in the first few hours after the strikes, too many of them children.”

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The man told how some people had to have their limbs amputated because of the severity of their shrapnel wounds but nothing could be done to save some patients.

“One mother came searching for her son,” he added.

“We were able to identify him from her description, but we knew he had lost his life. She collapsed into tears and refused to identify the body.

“I only had one choice; I brought her his shirt.”

Casualties continued to pour in for four hours until nightfall made it impossible for people to pull more survivors under the rubble.

“We will continue to find dead bodies in the next few days,” the hospital director said.

“As a medical team, the only choice we have is to replenish our supplies, gather our hopes, and prepare for the next tragedy.”

MSF sent in emergency supplies of blood bags, stretchers and medicine on Friday prevent stocks running dangerously low after the influx of patients.

“I can scarcely imagine the scale of the horror these doctors and nurses must have faced,” said Dr Bart Janssens, MSF Director of Operations. “They, like so many of the field hospitals in Syria, need all the support they can get.”

Like other aid agencies and charities, the group has to negotiate with armed groups or government forces to help civilians where it can in the Syrian war, with doctors risking their lives under threat of barrel bombs, missile strikes and chemical attacks.

MSF is calling for increased emergency assistance to medical personnel in the country, which is being ravaged by a continued civil conflict between the Bashar al-Assad regime, Isis, Islamists and rebels, with civilians caught in the crossfire.

A US-led coalition is also launching air strikes in Syria against Isis militants who have claimed large swatches of territory as part of their self-proclaimed Islamic State.