A strike on Al Deain Teaching Hospital in East Darfur, Sudan, has killed at least 64 people and rendered the facility non‑functional, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.
WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the attack, which occurred on Friday night, hit the hospital in Al Deain, the capital of East Darfur state. Among those killed were patients, doctors, nurses and children.
The organisation said 89 people were wounded, including health workers, and that the strike damaged key departments such as paediatric, maternity and emergency, effectively taking the hospital out of service and cutting off vital medical care for the city’s residents.
In his statement on social media platform X, Tedros noted that the deaths included children and healthcare staff, highlighting the grave human toll of the attack.
Sudanese rights monitors have reported that a military drone strike may have caused the attack, although responsibility for the strike has not been independently verified.
The incident is part of a broader trend of violence affecting medical facilities in Sudan’s conflict, which has severely disrupted the country’s healthcare system. WHO figures show that more than 2,000 people have been killed in attacks on health facilities since the conflict began in April 2023.
Humanitarian groups have condemned the strike, warning that continued targeting of hospitals endangers civilians and further exacerbates the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan.