Everything was burning, people were burning': witnesses describe strike on Kabul drug rehab centre

"An ambulance driver Haji Fahim said he arrived at the hospital to find everything was burning, people were burning. Early in the morning they called me again and told me to come back because there are still bodies under the rubble."

"Yousaf Rahim, a patient, said everyone was inside the wards when the explosion happened. My bed was in the corner, and I suffered injuries to my leg and thigh. It was a horrific scene. Patients fell from their beds, screaming and running as fire and smoke filled the wards and rooms."

"The Norwegian Refugee Council, an independent aid group, said its staff had seen large numbers of casualties. We visited the hospital treating addicts in Kabul this morning and found hundreds of civilians dead and injured."

A Pakistani military air raid struck the Omid hospital, a state-run drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, killing 408 people and injuring 265 others. The attack occurred late Monday evening, with rescue crews continuing to recover bodies from rubble on Tuesday. Witnesses described horrific scenes of patients burning in beds or crushed by collapsing structures. The compound was largely reduced to blackened rubble, with surviving patients found in the yard wearing green uniforms. Eyewitness accounts and independent aid organizations confirmed the mass-casualty nature of the incident. Patients reported explosions, fires, and smoke filling the wards as people fell from beds and fled in panic.

Read at www.theguardian.com