A video showing footage of an incident between an elderly man and number of security members from Al-Ahrar hospital in the Sharqeya governorate in northern Egypt was widely circulated on social media.
The video shows two security members from a private security firm, responsible for securing Al-Ahrar hospital, throwing an old man covered with a blanket out of the hospital. the old man is believed to have been a patient inside the hospital.
“We are not responsible for this matter, we just executing orders issued by our colonel to eject this man from the hospital,” two security members who appeared in the footage stated.
“The old man is homeless and was a patient who visited the hospital last Sunday to receive treatment for wounds in his feet. After completing treatment, he took a blanket and slept inside the hospital’s garden. He was removed brutally and aggressively by security personnel and I denounce the way he was taken out,” Sherif Makeen, undersecretary of the health minister in Sharqeya, told Daily News Egypt.
Al-Ahrar Hospital is secured by a private security firm; its team leader, a colonel, is the only one to be held responsible for this tragic incident, according to Makeen.
The man is 55 years old and from Daqahleya governorate; he does not suffer from any diseases and is currently receiving healthcare inside the hospital until shelter can be found for him, he noted.
“I will contact the Social Solidarity Ministry to afford shelter for this old man as soon as possible” Makeen said
The decision to eject the man was issued without the hospital administration’s knowledge; the colonel who issued the order has been dismissed from his position at the hospital.
The footage rapidly circulated via social media and sparked outrage among social media activists, who accused the private security firm and the hospital’s administration of negligence.
