A pregnant mother is among eight people who have been wounded in the airstrike in Mekelle – the main city in Tigray in northern Ethiopia, local hospital officials have told BBC Tigrinya.
The director of emergency services at the city’s Ayder Hospital said that five of them – including the woman who is in the ninth month of pregnancy – were being treated at his hospital.
He said the other three were admitted to Mekelle Hospital.
A central committee member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Prof Kindeya Geberehiwot, said the airstrike took place at around 10:25 local time in the centre of the city.
“It’s near Mekelle Hospital. People are trying to control the blaze,” he told BBC Tigrinya.
The Ethiopian National Defence Force’s Col Getnet Adane declined to comment, when contacted by BBC Tigrinya.
Mekelle has a population of more than 500,000.
The compound of a well-known company – Mesfin Industrial Engineering PLC – was hit by the airstrike, sources in the city told BBC Tigrinya.
Two warehouses – including one which stocked tyres – went up in flames, and were reduced to ashes, the sources said.
The UN said three children were killed in air strikes on the city on Monday.
The Ethiopian air force said Monday’s strikes had targeted communication infrastructure used by the TPLF.
Source: BBC
NewsAnnexOnline 