Tareq Aziz, media coordinator of Health Center no. 7, in Mina, said that the center, located just 150 meters away from the crush incident, was shocked by the Mina stampede incident, which occurred at 9 a.m. “Security men, including the Civil Defense personnel, kept fetching the injured and dead bodies in front of the Center’s gate, in numbers exceeding its capacity,” he said.
“A team, made up of all the Center’s staffers working in both the morning and night shifts, totaling 27 physicians, nurses and technicians, in addition to eight other physicians and nurses from other hospitals, was immediately formed,” he said, adding that the Center embarked on conducting triage of the victims to isolate the bodies and treat the injured after a large number of the martyrs’ bodies arrived at the Center by the Civil Defense. “Critical cases were treated at the center, while the non-critical cases received medical treatment as contacts were made with the emergency sections near their residence to receive them. Most of the injured suffered from bruises after being pulled away from the bodies.”
“The accumulation of bodies in front of the Center’s gate caused a big problem for us, regardless of cars trying to enter the Center,” Aziz said, adding that approximately 90 injured pilgrims were admitted to the Center per hour, while other 20 injured were transferred to the nearby health centers and hospitals by ambulances. “The health centers no. (16), (19) and (6), nearly 300, 350 and 400 meters far from the health center no. (7), stood as supportive centers for us,” he noted. “The cases were mainly transferred to such centers as they were working in their full capacities.”
Aziz noted, “Our humanitarian, noble and professional work started from 9 a.m., when the incident occurred, forcing pilgrims to flock to nearby health centers and camps, to 6 p.m. without a hiatus to make sure that no more victims or injured pilgrims are on site to treat them and provide them with needed medical care.”