BEIRUT: Dr Hilal Al-Sayer (left) and Tareq Al-Mutawa cut a cake during a ceremony to celebrate the reopening of wards at Wardieh Hospital in Beirut. - KUNA

BEIRUT: Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Chairman Dr Hilal Al-Sayer opened yesterday wards at Wardieh Hospital in Beirut, which KRCS helped restore after it was damaged by a massive explosion of Beirut Port in August 2020. Sayer opened three wards 10 months after the start of renovation work. Representative of the People's Committee for Fundraising in Kuwait Tareq Al-Salem Al-Mutawa and Head of KRCS's mission in Lebanon Dr Musa'ad Al-Enezi participated in the ceremony.

At the ceremony, a documentary was shown about the moment of the explosion and what the hospital was exposed to. Sayer affirmed KRCS' keenness to pay great attention to the health sector, because it constitutes the primary need in crises and disasters. After the explosion, many hospitals in Beirut lost their ability to treat the injured and provide medical services to others, which rushed them to provide them with support, he said.

Meanwhile, Mutawa said that KRCS immediately took the initiative to collect donations from philanthropists to complete this humanitarian work. In turn, Nicola Al-Aqiqi, head of the hospital, said that after the explosion, they were in a state of loss and confusion, then witnessed Kuwait standing by Lebanon's side which gave them hope and strength.

She pointed out that the wards that are restored returned to the best of what they were, re-equipped with good technology. The affected hospitals also delivered medical equipment and health materials that were transported through an air bridge that Kuwait began to set up the day after the explosion, which transported through 18 Kuwaiti Air Force planes more than 820 tons of needs to Lebanon. - KUNA