The last remaining hospital in the opposition-held eastern part of the Syrian city of Aleppo, as overcrowded as it is, has no more space for patients, is surrounded by the sounds of bombings and tries to serve as many injured patients as the staff can, following the last two days' intensive attack by the Assad and Russian forces.
Dr. Hamza al Khatib, one of the last doctors in besieged Aleppo, told Al Jazeera how East Aleppo's only hospital is struggling to treat civilians with damaged equipment and insufficient medical supplies.
"It's a small hospital, but it's accepting lots of victims and the wounded daily, because it's the only hospital left in the city. This is putting a lot of pressure on it," al-Khatib said.
He told the news channel that hospital, “the only one left standing" is trying to help all victims.
But the building is crowded and the injured lay all over its corridors. Blood lines the floors, and its smell, along with the sound of screams and cries, fill the air. Much of the surrounding area has been destroyed.
Other hospitals were out of service due to massive bombing that began on November 15.
"The building has been targeted; shelling from planes hit two sections and demolished one. But, thank God, not much has happened to the patients. Two died and a few others were injured," said al-Khatib.
The hospital also can be bombed anytime, but the medical staff is struggling to provide care to the hundreds of victims of the daily attack with a lack of facilities.
"Planes bomb the area surrounding the hospital pretty much every day, and we don't know when the hospital itself will be hit," al-Khatib added.
"Most of the patients are on the ground. There's no space to walk. It's the first time I've seen it like this," said Hudhaifa Dahman, who has worked at the hospital since the start of the popular uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
Assad forces have advanced to eastern Aleppo capturing more districts from the opposition fighters.
As many as 300,000 civilians are now effectively trapped in a 30-sq-km area in the opposition-held neighborhood in the city.
More than 700 civilians have been killed and around 3,000 others have been injured in regime attacks on eastern Aleppo since mid-November.
In the last 10 days, almost all hospitals and medical facilities stopped operating after being bombed and schools were disrupted.
Only three bakeries are left to serve the hundreds of thousands of civilians growing scared of mass starvation in the city.
