The MDA played a vital role in transporting the injured to local hospitals (p8844)
The Israeli humanitarian organisation, Magen David Adom (MDA), has responded to Sunday evening's double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, in which 23 people died and more than 100 were injured.
Three MDA branches sent 39 vehicles, including 27 ambulances, to the city's Neve Sha'anan quarter, where two people, standing about 100 metres apart, had detonated the explosives they were carrying.
The MDA, the equivalent of a national Red Cross or Red Crescent society, said 18 people were killed at the scene and another five died in hospital from their injuries.
It added that it had transported a further 106 wounded people to five hospitals, and provided 329 blood units and blood components. Ten of the injured were seriously hurt.
The MDA managed to evacuate all of the emergency casualties within 42 minutes of the blasts, although road blocks, rush-hour traffic and on-lookers meant the evacuation took longer than usual.
Related links:
Israel: appeals and reports
Magen David Adom