'Still processing': Montreal doctor evacuated Ukrainian patients at train station just days before attack
Just days before a missile struck a Ukrainian railroad station, claiming dozens of lives, one Quebec doctor was helping hospital patients onto trains at that very spot.
Now, Dr. Joanne Liu is back home — and she says watching the destruction from afar has been devastating and "difficult to process."
"When you're in those kind of moments where people are fleeing, fleeing for their life, you think that somehow it will be respected," Liu told CTV News.
About 4,000 civilians had been near the station in Kramatorsk the day the missile hit, most of them women and children attempting to flee the Donbas region, where fighting is expected to intensify.
"It was an evacuation spot," said Liu, who is a Montreal emergency physician and the former international president of Doctors Without Borders. "So the fact that there was this attack on this train station is really outraging, to say the least, because it was done during the daytime when it was at the busiest of the activities."
Photos from the scene show bodies covered in tarps, with abandoned suitcases and children's toys scattered outside the station.
At least 52 died in the attack and over 100 people were injured.
Liu said that despite heightened risks, doctors remain committed to continue their work on the front lines.
"We're still processing what happened," she said. "It brings a new load of challenges to a certain extent. But we are going to continue to do that for the time being."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
Banking mogul suing government after intelligence leaks leave him shut out of Canadian economy
Chinese Canadian banking mogul Shenglin Xian has launched a $300 million lawsuit against the federal government. It’s a means to find the source of intelligence leaks which Xian says has cost him his livelihood.
Jesus is their savior, Trump is their candidate. Ex-president's backers say he shares faith, values
As Donald Trump increasingly infuses his campaign with Christian trappings while coasting to a third Republican presidential nomination, his support is as strong as ever among evangelicals and other conservative Christians.
Box tree moths have infested Ontario and experts say more are coming. Here's what to do to protect your garden
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.
To plant or not to plant? Gardening tips for May long weekend
May long weekend is finally here, and with the extra time off you may be getting the itch to head out to your garden and plant. However, the old debate whether you should plant now, or wait, is still ever-present.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
His SUV was stolen on Montreal's South Shore. Then he got a $156 parking ticket
A couple is frustrated after their SUV was stolen from Montreal's South Shore in March and they received a parking ticket for the same vehicle last week.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Climate activists glue themselves at Munich airport to protest pollution caused by flying
Six climate activists broke through a security fence at Munich airport on Saturday and glued themselves to access routes leading to runways, temporarily shutting down flights.