Israel/Lebanon: Qana Death Toll at 28
International Inquiry Needed into Israeli Air Strike
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/08/02/lebano13899.htm
(Beirut, August 2, 2006) – A preliminary Human Rights Watch investigation into the July 30 Israeli air strike in Qana found that 28 people are confirmed dead thus far, among them 16 children, Human Rights Watch said today.
“The deaths in Qana were the predictable result of Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign in Lebanon,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. “Only an impartial international investigation can find out what really took place.”
The initial estimate of 54 persons killed was based on a register of 63 persons who had sought shelter in the basement of the building that was struck, and rescue teams having located nine survivors. It now appears that at least 22 people escaped the basement, and 28 are confirmed dead, according to records from the Lebanese Red Cross and the government hospital in Tyre. Thirteen people remain missing, and some Qana residents fear they are buried in the rubble, although recovery efforts have stopped.
