GAZA CITY: Gazans combed through the debris of the devastated hospital, collecting the bodies of the dead in the battered enclave on Wednesday, hours after a strike killed hundreds sheltering at the facility.
Alongside rows of charred vehicles, volunteers recovered corpses and limbs that were placed in body bags, while the remains of others were covered in white shrouds and blankets.
"This is a massacre," Ahmed Tafesh, who assisted in the recovery effort, said, saying he had collected the eyes, arms, legs and heads of the deceased. "I have never seen anything like this in my life."
Health authorities in Gaza said the explosion killed 471 people at the Ahli Arab Hospital and was caused by an Israeli air strike, one of the thousands it has launched in retaliation.
At the nearby Shifa hospital in Gaza City, residents gathered to identify the dead at the hospital's mortuary and take other bodies for burial.
Yahya Karim, 70, was among those searching for clues about the fate of his relatives.
"I don't know how many of them died and how many are still alive," said Karim, admitting that he had planned to shelter in the hospital before the strike.
Outside the Ahli hospital, others who survived the attack who spoke recounted the terrifying moment when the strike hit. "We felt there was fire and things were falling on us. We started looking for each other. The electricity cut suddenly, and we couldn't see," said Fatima Saed through tears.
"I don't know how we came out of it."
Gaza resident Adnan al-Naqa said that around 2,000 people were taking refuge at the hospital on Tuesday night at the time of the strike. "As I entered the hospital, I heard the explosion, I saw a massive fire," said Naqa.
"The entire square was on fire, there were bodies everywhere, children, women and elderly people." SEE ALSO P6&7
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