‘Even doctors, nurses couldn’t hold back tears’

"Move aside! Get me a stretcher! He needs help!"

The air inside Dhaka hospitals was filled with cries for help and painful screams.

One after another, injured students flooded into Uttara Adhunik Hospital, their bodies pierced by shotgun pellets.

Visiting the hospital, this newspaper found emergency camps set up in front of the gate, with stretchers, trolleys, and wheelchairs. Friends carried their injured fellows into the hospital, with vans, and CNG-run auto-rickshaws.

Those with comparatively less severe injuries were treated in front of the camps, while those with serious injuries were taken inside. The hospital authorities took an "all hands on deck" approach as day-offs of all the doctors and staffers were cancelled.

The interns and medical students nearby chipped in.

The scene resembled hospitals inside a war zone.

At least nine students were killed as police fired shotgun pellets and lobbed tear shells at protesting students in Uttara's Azampur area, said hospital authorities.

Over 1,000 students, mostly between 16 and 28 years old, sought treatment at Uttara Adhunik Hospital, said sources. Many are in critical conditions, they added.

However, the hospital authorities did not confirm the number of registered deaths.

Inside, this correspondent found the hospital floors filled with blood stains. There were not enough beds to treat all the patients.

Many were receiving treatment in the floor. Some parents were seen crying beside their injured sons.

Even the doctors struggled to fight back tears.

"I haven't seen such a horrific situation in 12 years of my professional life," said a nurse, requesting anonymity.

"Hundreds of protesting students with shotgun pellet wounds have streamed in since this afternoon. There aren't enough beds to accommodate them all. Even the doctors and nurses are in tears," she added.

The situation was worse in Kuwait Moitree Hospital, as seen by our reporter there. Eight bodies were kept inside the facility, all of whom had shotgun pellet wounds, said Mizanur Rahman, superintendent of  the hospital.

Meanwhile, at least 100 injured students were brought to Crescent Hospital in Uttara.

According to hospital source, one body was kept there.

Similar situations persisted in hospitals near Mohammadpur and Dhanmondi.

A 17-year-old named Farhan Faiyaaz died in City Hospital, Mohammadpur. At least 200-250 injured were brought to the facility, said Osman Goni, assistant manager of the hospital. He confirmed Faiyaaz's demise.

Meanwhile, around 100 were admitted to Ibn Sina Hospital in Dhanmondi.

Also, two died and several hundreds were injured as police and students of BRAC University, East West University and other institutions clashed with police in the Badda and Rampura areas.

As such, the hospitals near Rampura and Banasree were also filled to the brim with wounded students. Over 300 wounded were brought to Better Life Hospital in Rampura. In Farazi Hospital, Banasree, over 450 students were admitted.

Meanwhile at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, around 275 people, most of them injured by shotgun pellets, were brought to the hospital. The situation turned dire in the evening evening, as hundreds of injured people started entering DMCH in one ambulance after another.

Most of the injured came from Jatrabai, Azampur and Rampura areas. At one stage, there were shortage of trollies and stretchers. At least seven persons had to be taken to ophthalmology department with eye injuries, including shotgun pellet wounds.

Around 10 bodies were brought to the hospital. Meanwhile, one protester, who was injured on Wednesday, succumbed to his injuries yesterday, said DMCH sources.

The situation was same in Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital. The hospital started receiving injured protesters since morning, but the numbers increased after 12:30pm.