Hundreds awaiting evacuation from rebel-held eastern Aleppo

Hundreds are still waiting to be evacuated from a rebel-held enclave in Syria’s eastern Aleppo on Friday as the second consecutive day of departures begins, a member of a rescue team said.

Ibrahim al Haj, a member of the White Helmets rescue team inside eastern Aleppo told newsmen.

“There are many people still waiting to be moved, but the problem is that the number of buses entering to evacuate the people is not much.

“I am here now. Buses stopped coming, all the people are exhausted and afraid that ceasefire will fail again,’’ Haj said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses had made seven trips since the evacuation started on Thursday.

Red Cross spokeswoman in Syria, Ingy Sedky said the operation continued overnight and is still ongoing.

“It is so hard now to know how many have been evacuated so far as the number of buses, ambulances differed from one transfer to another,” Sedky said.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the besieged rebel enclave of eastern Aleppo on Thursday into areas in the western countryside of Aleppo, with plans for more to soon leave the devastated area.

A media report said that 6,462 people, including over 3,000 militants and 301 wounded persons over the past 24 hours.

According to a Syrian military source, the total number of the people who have departed the eastern Aleppo enclave is 8,079 people; among them 3,475 militants.