Footage has emerged of the moment before Al Quds hospital in Aleppo was bombed, killing one of the last paediatricians left in the city along with 26 other staff and patients.
Dr Muhammad Waseem Maaz, who has been described as the area’s most qualified paediatrician, can be seen on the footage seconds before the Medicins Sans Frontier-backed hospital was hit by air strikes from government forces.
The footage, obtained from the hospital’s CCTV by Channel 4 News, shows Dr Maaz as he prepares to begin a night shift on the emergency ward on 27 April.
He can be seen on film leaving the intensive care unit and walking downstairs towards the emergency ward, speaking with a colleague in the corridor and disappearing from the CCTV seconds before the deadly blast.
In the wake of Wednesday’s air strike, Medicins San Frontiers spoke out on social media stating it was “outraged” by the attack, adding that hospitals “are not a target”.
It is believed more than 700 doctors have died in the fighting over the past five years, with very few still working in Aleppo.
Further bombing two days after the Al Quds attack saw another hospital hit, as well as air strikes near several mosques that had suspended prayers amid fears of further bombardments, while a rebel attack near a mosque on Friday, as people were leaving from prayers, left heavy casualties.
In the past week, bombings in Aleppo have left more than 200 people dead, with 123 civilians killed in bombardments on rebel-held areas of the city and 71 killed in rebel attacks on government held areas.
