Nurse saves three newborn babies in wake of Beirut explosion
Photojournalist Bilal Jawich was on the outskirts of Beirut when the explosion hit, leaving at least 135 dead and thousands injured. Jawich says he followed the smoke until he reached the port of the Lebanese capital.
He went on to explain that “professional intuition” took him to Al Roum hospital, in the Ashrafieh district.
The area has been left devastated by the blast but Jawich says there was a remarkable sight amidst the rubble.
“I was amazed when I saw the nurse holding three newborns,” Jawich said.
“I noticed the nurse’s calm, which contrasted the surrounding atmosphere just one metre away.”
Several dead and injured people lay just nearby, he said.
“However, the nurse looked like she possessed a hidden force that gave her self-control and the ability to save those children,” he said.
“People stand out amidst these violent and dark and evil circumstances and this nurse was up to the task.”
Jawich said the nurse told him later that evening that she was in the maternity ward when the blast hit.
She said she had been knocked unconscious, and when she woke up she “found herself carrying these three children,” he said.
Unfortunately, others in the hospital were not so lucky, as 12 patients, two visitors and four nurses died in the explosion.
George Saad, emergency preparedness and disaster manager for the hospital, says two remain in critical condition.
At least 80 per cent of the hospital has been damaged, along with 50 per cent of its equipment, he said.
Saad told CNN that the babies and their mothers have been transferred to other hospitals.