Statement from MAG Chief Executive Darren Cormack following an incident in Deir al Balah, Gaza, today, that left a MAG staff member injured.
A MAG explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) expert on secondment to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is one of five people to have been injured in an explosion at a UNOPS facility in Deir El Balah, Gaza, that also claimed the life of a UN worker.
Our colleague, who is 51 and British, was conducting an explosive hazards assessment at a UNOPS building when the incident happened this morning.
He was transferred to hospital in Gaza for treatment and has now been evacuated to a hospital in Israel. His condition is not known. We are in contact with both his family and UNMAS and doing everything we can to offer our support to them at this time.
MAG has been assisting UNMAS in Gaza since May last year through the provision of in-kind specialist support, advising humanitarian agencies and workers on the risks of explosive hazards.
The UN has confirmed that today’s incident did not occur in the course of normal EOD operations and resulted from ordnance being fired at or dropped on the building in which the team was working. It is shocking that a humanitarian facility should be subject to attacks of this nature and that humanitarian workers are being killed and injured in the line of duty. Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law.
Our colleague has worked for MAG since 2008 and is vastly experienced. We are working hard to ensure he gets the right medical treatment. The thoughts of everyone at MAG are with him, his family and with all those affected.
