While the decision to evacuate the surgery building hours before it was hit by an Iranian missile seems miraculous, the hospital suffered significant damage and there is concern over what comes next. Many patients do not know where else they will get treatment
A thick black cloud rose Thursday morning from Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva, southern Israel's largest medical center, after it was directly hit by an Iranian missile. As one approaches the site, the acrid smell of smoke and burnt material grows stronger.
The destruction is visible at every step: shattered windows, scorched walls. But despite the heavy damage, the words "luck" and "miracle" can be heard repeatedly.
Just yesterday, mere hours before the explosion, the upper floors of the old, northern surgery building, which absorbed the brunt of the impact, were evacuated. One of the workers recounts that even after the evacuation, staff and patients remained on the first three floors. Another worker tells him, "There is a God in heaven, it's crazy luck."
The Home Front Command sees it less spiritually. For them, it's mainly about the proper execution of safety guidelines. "Soroka was prepared for an emergency in advance, and there were no patients on the two top floors," said a senior official in the Southern District of the Home Front Command. Yet he added, almost in a whisper, "There was probably also luck involved. It could have ended completely differently."
