'Tragic' and 'Inexcusable': Investigation launched on U.S. Airstrike that hit Afghanistan Doctors Without Borders hospital

Several people were injured and the death toll rose to 19 during the tragic, inexcusable U.S. airstrike on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. Reports reveal that the bombing continued even after the military was advised the hospital had been hit.

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KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN (Catholic Online) - An investigation on the October 3rd U.S. airstrike on the Doctors Without Borders hospital is being called for by the UN Human Rights; patients were burned in their beds and medics were killed during the incident. Reports surfaced that the organization informed the U.S. and Afghan authorities of their location exactly three days prior to the strike.

The UN Chief considers the act "tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal" as the death toll rose. Three children were among the 19 dead and 37 others were seriously injured during the unfortunate attack on the hospital. The bombing even continued 30 minutes after the U.S. military was informed the hospital was hit.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemns the strike that killed 12 of the Doctors Without Borders staff and seven patients. The act may become a war crime if the investigation reveals the hospital was purposefully targeted.

"The bombs hit and then we heard the plane circle round. There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames. Those people that could had moved quickly to the building's two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds," Heman Nagarathnam, MSF head of programs in Northern Afghanistan revealed.

Nagarathnam explained by the time he made it out of the office, the main building of the hospital was already in flames.

During the attack, 105 patients - 59 of them children - several caretakers and 80 international and national staff members were in the hospital.

According to the Daily Mail, 10 to 15 terrorists armed with light and heavy weapons used the people inside as shields during the airstrike. Although all of  the terrorists were killed during the pursuit, several doctors also were.

Bart Janssens, Doctors Without Borders Director of Operations stated that he was "deeply shocked by the attack, the killing of our staff and patients and the heavy toll it has inflicted on healthcare in Kunduz."

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