By Tara Mahon
A pregnant woman and her unborn baby have tragically died in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Images of the woman being carried on a stretcher went viral on Wednesday, March 9th, after the maternity hospital she was due to give birth in was bombed by Russian soildiers.
As reported by the Associated Press, the mother was pictured with ash on her face and blood on her lower abdomen as she held her stomach.
After being rushed to a different hospital closer to the frontline, an emergency caesarean section was performed. The infant showed “no signs of life”, according to Timur Marin, who performed the surgery.
Pregnant woman seen being rushed on a stretcher after Russia bombed a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s Mariupol on Wednesday died the same day with her baby after an emergency c-section due to injuries sustained pic.twitter.com/QpAFckCiwn
— TRT World (@trtworld) March 14, 2022
During the explosion, the mother’s hip was crushed and her pelvis was detached. Despite trying to resuscitate the mother for more than 30 minutes, she sadly did not respond. Marin was quoted saying “both died”, after the incident.
The woman’s husband and father removed her body before it could be buried in one of the city’s many mass graves that have been created.
Of course, this is not the first bombing of a health facility in the Ukraine since Russia started their invasion 19 days ago. The World Health Organisation has evidence that there have been attacks on at least 26 facilities since the Russian invasion began. The Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, told Sky News that he agrees that this hospital bombing is a war crime.
A second woman who was also pictured trying to escape the hospital after it was attacked, was safely moved to a new location and has given birth to a baby girl.
