KYIV – Tentera Ukraine berkata pada Rabu ia melanda tapak pengeluaran dron jarak jauh Rusia di Tatarstan, merosakkan barisan pemasangan terakhir.
Semasa perang selama tiga tahun, Rusia telah menggunakan secara meluas Shahed dan jenis dron serangan lain untuk serangan di seluruh Ukraine. Pada malam Rabu, Ukraine berkata ia telah menjatuhkan 134 dron Rusia.
“Setakat ini, diketahui bahawa kerosakan berpunca daripada barisan pemasangan akhir UAV (Kenderaan Udara Tanpa Pemandu),” kata kakitangan am Ukraine di aplikasi Telegram, sambil menambah bahawa kapasiti pengeluaran kilang itu ialah 300 dron setiap hari.
Reuters tidak dapat mengesahkan kenyataan itu secara bebas. Pihak berkuasa tempatan di Yelabuga melaporkan sebuah dron ditembak jatuh di pekan itu. Mash, saluran Telegram yang dekat dengan perkhidmatan keselamatan Rusia, berkata sekurang-kurangnya empat dron telah dijatuhkan dekat sebuah kilang di pekan itu.
Kakitangan am berkata, serangan yang dilakukan oleh pasukan dron Ukraine dan unit lain, menyebabkan letupan dekat kemudahan itu, 1,054 kilometer (654 batu) dari sempadan Ukraine.
KYIV – Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday it had hit a Russian long-range drone production site in Tatarstan, damaging the final assembly line.
In the course of the three-year-old war, Russia has been extensively using Shahed and other types of attack drones for strikes across Ukraine. On Wednesday night, Ukraine said it had downed 134 Russian drones.
“As of now, it is known that damage was caused to the final assembly line of the UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles),” Ukraine’s general staff said on the Telegram app, adding that the plant’s production capacity is 300 drones per day.
Reuters could not independently verify the statement. Local authorities in Yelabuga reported a drone being shot down in the town. Mash, a Telegram channel close to Russia’s security services, said at least four drones had been downed close to a factory in the town.
The general staff said the strike, conducted by Ukraine’s drone forces and other units, caused explosions near the facility, 1,054 kilometers (654 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
QUETTA, Pakistan – Lelaki bersenjata yang menunggang motosikal menembak dan membunuh dua pegawai keselamatan yang ditugaskan melindungi pekerja polio di barat daya Pakistan yang bergolak pada Rabu sebelum melarikan diri dari tempat kejadian, kata polis.
Serangan itu berlaku di kawasan perumahan di Mastung, sebuah daerah di Balochistan, menurut Mohammad Arif, seorang pegawai polis tempatan. Tiada siapa yang segera mengaku bertanggungjawab atas serangan itu.
Pekerja kesihatan, yang memberi vaksin kepada kanak-kanak di jalan berdekatan, tidak cedera, kata pegawai itu.
Shahid Rind, jurucakap kerajaan di Balochistan, mengecam serangan itu, yang berlaku dua hari selepas Pakistan melancarkan kempen vaksinasi di seluruh negara selama seminggu bertujuan melindungi 45 juta kanak-kanak daripada polio.
Menurut Pertubuhan Kesihatan Sedunia (WHO), Pakistan dan negara jiran Afghanistan kekal sebagai satu-satunya negara di mana penyebaran versi semula jadi virus yang berpotensi membawa maut dan melumpuhkan itu tidak pernah berhenti. Terdapat wabak yang berterusan di sekurang-kurangnya enam negara Afrika yang didorong oleh virus bermutasi yang dikaitkan dengan vaksin polio oral.
Polis dan pekerja kesihatan sering diserang oleh militan yang mendakwa secara palsu bahawa usaha vaksinasi adalah sebahagian daripada rancangan Barat untuk mensterilkan kanak-kanak Islam.
Pakistan menyaksikan lonjakan kes polio tahun lepas, dengan 74 kes dilaporkan berbanding hanya satu pada 2021. Negara Asia Selatan itu melaporkan hanya enam kes sejak Januari.
Sejak 1990-an, lebih 200 pekerja polio dan polis yang ditugaskan untuk melindungi mereka telah terbunuh dalam serangan.
QUETTA, Pakistan – Gunmen riding on a motorcycle shot and killed two security officials assigned to protect polio workers in restive southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday before fleeing the scene, police said.
The attack occurred in a residential area of Mastung, a district in Balochistan, according to Mohammad Arif, a local police official. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The health workers, who were vaccinating children in a nearby street, were unharmed, the official said.
Shahid Rind, a government spokesman in Balochistan, denounced the attack, which came two days after Pakistan launched a weeklong nationwide vaccination campaign aimed at protecting 45 million children from polio.
According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the natural version of the potentially fatal, paralyzing virus has never been stopped. There are ongoing outbreaks in at least six African countries prompted by mutated viruses linked to the oral polio vaccine.
Police and health workers are often attacked by militants who falsely claim that vaccination efforts are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.
Pakistan saw a surge in polio cases last year, with 74 reported cases compared to just one in 2021. The South Asian country reported just six cases since January.
Since the 1990s, more than 200 polio workers and the police assigned to protect them have been killed in attacks.
ISTANBUL – Gempa bumi dengan magnitud awal 6.2 menggegarkan Istanbul dan kawasan lain di Turki pada Rabu, menyebabkan panik yang meluas dan sejumlah orang cedera di bandar berpenduduk 16 juta orang itu, walaupun tiada laporan segera mengenai kerosakan serius.
Sekurang-kurangnya 236 orang dirawat kerana kecederaan yang mereka alami semasa cuba melompat dari bangunan atau kerana panik — kebanyakan mereka di Istanbul, di mana penduduk berada dalam keadaan cemas kerana bandar itu dianggap berisiko tinggi untuk gempa bumi besar.
Gempa bumi itu mempunyai kedalaman cetek 10 kilometer (kira-kira 6 batu), menurut Kajian Geologi Amerika Syarikat, dengan pusat gempa kira-kira 40 kilometer (25 batu) barat daya Istanbul, di Laut Marmara.
Ia dirasai di wilayah jiran Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa dan Balikesir dan di bandar pantai Izmir, kira-kira 550 kilometer (340 batu) di selatan Istanbul. Menteri Dalam Negeri Ali Yerlikaya berkata gempa bumi itu berlarutan selama 13 saat dan diikuti lebih 100 gegaran susulan – yang paling kuat berukuran 5.9 magnitud.
Gempa bermula pada 12:49 tengah hari Rabu, cuti umum, apabila ramai kanak-kanak tidak bersekolah dan meraikan di jalanan Istanbul. Penduduk yang panik bergegas keluar dari rumah dan bangunan mereka ke jalan raya. Pihak berkuasa menggesa penduduk mengelak daripada memasuki bangunan yang mungkin rosak dan berkata dewan sukan dan masjid akan dibuka untuk menempatkan penduduk yang tidak mahu bermalam di rumah mereka.
“Seramai 236 rakyat terjejas akibat panik dan akibat terjatuh atau melompat,” kata Menteri Kesihatan Kemal Memisoglu. Beliau berkata 173 daripada yang cedera itu berada di Istanbul manakala selebihnya di wilayah sekitar.
Pihak berkuasa telah menerima 378 laporan “kerosakan struktur” dalam pelbagai bangunan, kata Menteri Alam Sekitar, Pembandaran dan Perubahan Iklim Murat Kurum, sambil menambah bahawa (penghuni) 12 bangunan telah dipindahkan sebagai langkah berjaga-jaga.
Hanya satu bangunan – struktur terbiar dan lama ditinggalkan di daerah Fatih yang bersejarah di bandar itu – telah runtuh, kata pegawai.
ISTANBUL – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul and other areas of Turkey on Wednesday, prompting widespread panic and scores of injuries in the city of 16 million people, though there were no immediate reports of serious damage.
At least 236 people were treated for injuries they suffered while trying to jump from buildings or for panic attacks — most of them in Istanbul, where residents are on tenterhooks because the city is considered at high risk for a major quake.
The earthquake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey, with its epicenter about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Istanbul, in the Sea of Marmara.
It was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa and Balikesir and in the coastal city of Izmir, some 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Istanbul. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the earthquake lasted 13 seconds and was followed by more than 100 aftershocks — the strongest measuring 5.9 in magnitude.
The quake started at 12:49 p.m. Wednesday, a public holiday, when many children were out of school and celebrating in the streets of Istanbul. Panicked residents rushed from their homes and buildings into the streets. Authorities urged residents to avoid entering buildings that might have been damaged and said sports halls and mosques would be open to house residents not wanting to spend the night in their homes.
More than 230 injured
“A total of 236 citizens were affected by panic attacks and from falls or from jumping,” Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said. He said 173 of the injuries were in Istanbul while the rest were in surrounding provinces.
Authorities had received 378 reports of “structural damage” in various buildings, said Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, adding that 12 buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
Only one building — a derelict, long-abandoned structure in the city’s historic Fatih district — had collapsed, officials said.
Orang ramai berjalan di daerah Eminonu, dengan Masjid Baru kelihatan di latar belakang, berikutan gempa bumi, di Istanbul, Turki, 23 April 2025. REUTERS
ISTANBUL – Gempa bumi dengan magnitud awal 6.2 menggegarkan Istanbul dan kawasan lain pada Rabu, menyebabkan panik yang meluas dan sejumlah kecederaan di bandar Turki yang mempunyai 16 juta penduduk itu, walaupun tiada laporan segera mengenai kerosakan serius.
Lebih 150 orang dimasukkan ke hospital dengan kecederaan yang dialami ketika cuba terjun dari bangunan, kata pejabat gabenor di Istanbul, di mana penduduk berada dalam keadaan cemas kerana bandar itu dianggap berisiko tinggi untuk gempa bumi besar.
Gempa bumi itu mempunyai kedalaman cetek 10 kilometer (kira-kira 6 batu), menurut Kajian Geologi Amerika Syarikat, dengan pusat gempa kira-kira 40 kilometer (25 batu) barat daya Istanbul, di Laut Marmara.
Ia dirasai di wilayah jiran Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa dan Balikesir dan di bandar Izmir, kira-kira 550 kilometer (340 batu) di selatan Istanbul. Menteri Dalam Negeri Ali Yerlikaya berkata gempa bumi berlarutan selama 13 saat dan diikuti oleh lebih 50 gegaran susulan – yang paling kuat berukuran 5.9.
Gempa bermula pada 12:49 tengah hari semasa cuti umum apabila ramai kanak-kanak tidak bersekolah dan beraya di jalanan Istanbul. Penduduk yang panik bergegas keluar dari rumah dan bangunan mereka ke jalan raya. Agensi pengurusan bencana dan kecemasan menggesa orang ramai menjauhi bangunan.
LEBIH 150 CEDERA
“Disebabkan panik, 151 rakyat kami cedera akibat terjun dari ketinggian,” kata pejabat gabenor Istanbul dalam satu kenyataan.
“Rawatan mereka sedang dijalankan di hospital, dan mereka tidak dalam keadaan yang mengancam nyawa.”
Ramai penduduk berpusu-pusu ke taman, halaman sekolah dan kawasan lapang lain untuk mengelak daripada berada dekat bangunan sekiranya berlaku runtuhan atau gempa bumi berikutnya. Sesetengah orang memasang khemah di taman.
“Syukur kepada Tuhan, nampaknya tidak ada sebarang masalah buat masa ini,” kata Presiden Recep Tayyip Erdogan pada majlis sempena cuti Hari Kedaulatan Negara dan Hari Kanak-kanak.
“Semoga Allah melindungi negara kita dan rakyat kita daripada segala macam malapetaka, bencana, kemalangan dan kesusahan.”
Leyla Ucar, seorang jurulatih peribadi, berkata dia sedang bersenam bersama pelajarnya di tingkat 20 sebuah bangunan apabila mereka berasa gegaran kuat.
“Kami bergegar kuat. Ia melemparkan kami ke sekeliling, kami tidak dapat memahami apa yang berlaku, kami tidak fikir gempa bumi pada mulanya kerana goncangan itu,” katanya. “Ia sangat menakutkan.”
Senol Sari, 51, memberitahu The Associated Press (AP) dia bersama anak-anaknya di ruang tamu apartmen tingkat tiga mereka apabila dia mendengar bunyi kuat dan bangunan itu mula bergegar. Mereka melarikan diri ke taman berdekatan.
“Kami segera melindungi diri daripada gempa bumi dan menunggu untuk berlalu,” kata Sari. “Sudah tentu, kami takut.”
Mereka kemudian dapat pulang dengan tenang, kata Sari, tetapi mereka tetap bimbang gempa bumi yang lebih besar akan melanda bandar itu suatu hari nanti. Ia “gempa bumi yang dijangkakan, kebimbangan kami berterusan,” katanya.
‘ANAK-ANAK SAYA AGAK TAKUT’
Cihan Boztepe, 40, adalah salah seorang daripada ramai yang tergesa-gesa melarikan diri ke jalanan bersama keluarganya untuk mengelak potensi keruntuhan. Boztepe, berdiri di sebelah anaknya yang menangis teresak-esak, memberitahu AP bahawa pada 2023 dia tinggal di wilayah Batman, kawasan berdekatan dengan bahagian selatan Turki di mana gempa bumi besar melanda pada masa itu, dan gegaran pada Rabu terasa lebih lemah dan dia tidak begitu takut.
“Pada mulanya kami tergoncang, kemudian ia berhenti, kemudian kami tergoncang lagi. Anak-anak saya sedikit takut, tetapi saya tidak. Kami cepat-cepat mengumpulkan barang-barang kami dan turun ke tempat yang selamat. Jika ikutkan saya, kami sudah pulang ke rumah.”
Menteri Dalam Negeri Turki Ali Yerlikaya berkata pihak berkuasa tidak menerima laporan mengenai bangunan runtuh. Dia memberitahu televisyen HaberTurk bahawa terdapat laporan kerosakan pada bangunan.
Penyiar NTV melaporkan bahawa bekas bangunan kediaman yang terbiar telah runtuh di daerah Fatih yang bersejarah, yang menempatkan Masjid Biru dan Masjid Besar Hagia Sophia.
Menteri Pendidikan Yusuf Tekin mengumumkan bahawa sekolah akan ditutup pada Khamis dan Jumaat di Istanbul.
“Selaras dengan keperluan untuk ruang yang selamat, taman sekolah kami terbuka untuk kegunaan semua warga kami,” kata Tekin.
PROJEK PEMBINAAN SEMULA BANDAR
Turki dilintasi oleh dua garisan sesar utama, dan gempa bumi kerap berlaku.
Gempa bumi berukuran 7.8 pada skala Richter pada 6 Februari 2023, dan gegaran kuat kedua beberapa jam kemudian, memusnahkan atau merosakkan ratusan ribu bangunan di 11 wilayah selatan dan tenggara, menyebabkan lebih 53,000 orang terkorban. 6,000 lagi orang terbunuh di bahagian utara negara jiran Syria.
Istanbul tidak terjejas oleh gempa bumi itu, tetapi kemusnahan itu meningkatkan kebimbangan mengenai gempa bumi yang sama, dengan pakar memetik kedudukan bandar yang berdekatan dengan garisan sesar.
Dalam usaha untuk mengelakkan kerosakan daripada sebarang gempa bumi pada masa hadapan, kerajaan nasional dan pentadbiran tempatan memulakan projek pembinaan semula bandar untuk mengukuhkan bangunan yang berisiko dan melancarkan kempen untuk merobohkan bangunan yang berisiko runtuh.
Pada Rabu, barisan panjang terbentuk di stesen minyak kerana penduduk, yang merancang untuk meninggalkan Istanbul, bergegas untuk mengisi kenderaan mereka. Antaranya ialah Emre Senkay yang berkata dia mungkin akan pergi sekiranya berlaku gempa bumi yang lebih teruk pada waktu petang.
“Rancangan saya adalah untuk meninggalkan Istanbul jika berlaku gempa bumi yang lebih serius,” katanya.
People walk in Eminonu district, as the New Mosque is seen in the background, following an earthquake, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 23, 2025. REUTERS
ISTANBUL – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook Istanbul and other areas Wednesday, prompting widespread panic and scores of injuries in the Turkish city of 16 million people, though there were no immediate reports of serious damage.
More than 150 people were hospitalized with injuries sustained while trying to jump from buildings, said the governor’s office in Istanbul, where residents are on tenterhooks because the city is considered at high risk for a major quake.
The earthquake had a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles), according to the United States Geological Survey, with its epicenter about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Istanbul, in the Sea of Marmara.
It was felt in the neighboring provinces of Tekirdag, Yalova, Bursa and Balikesir and in the city of Izmir, some 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of Istanbul. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the earthquake lasted 13 seconds and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks – the strongest measuring 5.9.
The quake started at 12:49 p.m. during a public holiday when many children were out of school and celebrating in the streets of Istanbul. Panicked residents rushed from their homes and buildings into the streets. The disaster and emergency management agency urged people to stay away from buildings.
MORE THAN 150 INJURED
“Due to panic, 151 of our citizens were injured from jumping from heights,” the Istanbul governor’s office said in a statement. “Their treatments are ongoing in hospitals, and they are not in life-threatening condition.”
Many residents flocked to parks, school yards and other open areas to avoid being near buildings in case of collapse or subsequent earthquakes. Some people pitched tents in parks.
“Thank God, there does not seem to be any problems for now,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at an event marking the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day holiday. “May God protect our country and our people from all kinds of calamities, disasters, accidents and troubles.”
Leyla Ucar, a personal trainer, said she was exercising with her student on the 20th floor of a building when they felt intense shaking.
“We shook incredibly. It threw us around, we couldn’t understand what was happening, we didn’t think of an earthquake at first because of the shock of the event,” she said. “It was very scary.”
Senol Sari, 51, told The Associated Press he was with his children in the living room of their third floor apartment when he heard a loud noise and the building started shaking. They fled to a nearby park. “We immediately protected ourselves from the earthquake and waited for it to pass,” Sari said. “Of course, we were scared.”
They later were able to return home calmly, Sari said, but they remain worried that a bigger quake will some day strike the city. It’s “an expected earthquake, our concerns continue,” he said.
‘MY CHILDREN WERE A LITTLE SCARED’
Cihan Boztepe, 40, was one of many who hurriedly fled to the streets with his family in order to avoid a potential collapse. Boztepe, standing next to his sobbing child, told AP that in 2023 he was living in Batman province, an area close to the southern part of Turkey where major quakes struck at the time, and that Wednesday’s tremor felt weaker and that he wasn’t as scared.
“At first we were shaken, then it stopped, then we were shaken again. My children were a little scared, but I wasn’t. We quickly gathered our things and went down to a safe place. If it were up to me, we would have already returned home.”
Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said authorities had not received reports of collapsed buildings. He told HaberTurk television that there had been reports of damage to buildings.
The NTV broadcaster reported that a derelict and abandoned former residential building had collapsed in the historic Fatih district, which houses the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.
Education Minister Yusuf Tekin announced that schools would be closed on Thursday and Friday in Istanbul.
“In line with the need for a safe space, our school gardens are open to the use of all our citizens,” Tekin said.
URBAN RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Turkey is crossed by two major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and a second powerful tremor hours later, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces, leaving more than 53,000 people dead. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria.
Istanbul was not impacted by that earthquake, but the devastation heightened fears of a similar quake, with experts citing the city’s proximity to fault lines.
In a bid to prevent damage from any future quake, the national government and local administrations started urban reconstruction projects to fortify buildings at risk and launched campaigns to demolish buildings at risk of collapse.
On Wednesday, long queues formed at gas stations as residents, planning to leave Istanbul, rushed to fill up their vehicles. Among them was Emre Senkay who said he might leave in the event of a more severe earthquake later in the day.
“My plan is to leave Istanbul if there is a more serious earthquake,” he said.
KAHERAH/GAZA – Serangan udara Israel ke atas sebuah sekolah yang melindungi keluarga pelarian di utara Gaza membunuh sekurang-kurangnya 10 orang pada Rabu, manakala satu lagi melanda hospital kanak-kanak, kata pegawai perubatan, ketika tiga pemimpin Eropah menggesa Israel menamatkan sekatannya terhadap bantuan.
Sejak gencatan senjata Januari runtuh pada 18 Mac, serangan Israel telah membunuh lebih daripada 1,600 rakyat Palestin, menurut pihak berkuasa kesihatan Gaza, dan ratusan ribu telah dipaksa keluar dari rumah mereka ketika Israel merampas apa yang dipanggil zon penampan tanah Gaza.
Israel juga telah mengenakan sekatan ke atas semua barangan ke Gaza, termasuk bahan api dan elektrik, sejak awal Mac.
Pada Rabu, menteri luar Jerman, Perancis, dan Britain bersama-sama menyeru Israel untuk mematuhi undang-undang antarabangsa dan membenarkan laluan bantuan kemanusiaan tanpa halangan ke Gaza.
Mereka juga menggesa gencatan senjata dipulihkan dan saki-baki tebusan yang ditahan oleh kumpulan militan Hamas dibebaskan.
“Bantuan kemanusiaan tidak boleh digunakan sebagai alat politik dan wilayah Palestin tidak boleh dikurangkan atau tertakluk kepada sebarang perubahan demografi,” kata menteri-menteri terbabit dalam satu kenyataan.
Pegawai perubatan berkata, serangan udara ke atas Sekolah Yaffa di kawasan Tuffah di bandar Gaza membakar khemah dan bilik darjah.
Tiada komen Israel mengenai serangan sekolah itu.
Beberapa perabot masih terbakar beberapa jam selepas serangan itu ketika orang ramai menyaring bilik darjah dan halaman sekolah yang gelap untuk mencari barang-barang mereka.
“Kami sedang tidur dan tiba-tiba sesuatu meletup, kami mula mencari dan mendapati seluruh sekolah terbakar, khemah di sana sini terbakar, semuanya terbakar,” kata saksi mata, Um Mohammed Al-Hwaiti.
“Orang ramai berteriak dan lelaki membawa orang, (orang) hangus, kanak-kanak hangus, dan berjalan sambil berkata: ‘Wahai Tuhan, Tuhan yang dikasihi, kami tidak mempunyai sesiapa selain Engkau.’ Apa yang boleh kami katakan? Wahai Tuhan, sahaja,” katanya kepada Reuters.
Pegawai perubatan berkata sekurang-kurangnya 36 orang terbunuh dalam serangan Israel di seluruh Gaza pada Rabu.
CAIRO/GAZA – An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced families in northern Gaza killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, while another hit a children’s hospital, medics said, as three European leaders called on Israel to end its blockade on aid.
Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health authorities, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone of Gaza’s land.
Israel has also imposed a blockade on all goods into Gaza, including fuel and electricity, since the beginning of March. On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Britain jointly called on Israel to adhere to international law and allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
They also urged for the ceasefire to be restored and for remaining hostages held by militant group Hamas to be released.
“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change,” the ministers said in a statement.
Medics said the airstrike on the Yaffa School in the Tuffah area of Gaza City set fire to tents and classrooms.
There has been no Israeli comment on the school attack.
Some furniture was still in flames several hours after the strike as people sifted through blackened classrooms and the schoolyard in search of their belongings.
“We were sleeping and suddenly something exploded, we started looking and found the whole school on fire, the tents here and there were on fire, everything was on fire,” said eyewitness, Um Mohammed Al-Hwaiti.
“People were shouting and men were carrying people, charred (people), charred children, and were walking and saying: ‘Dear God, dear God, we have no one but you.’ What can we say? Dear God, only,” she told Reuters.
Medics said at least 36 people had been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Wednesday.
