GENEVA April 7 —
Overwhelmed hospitals in Baghdad are running out of drugs and
anesthetics and are short of water and electricity, the Red Cross
said Monday.
"There is no doubt really that the resources and staff of these
places are really stretched to the limit," said Florian Westphal,
spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the main
aid agency left in Iraq. "They have very little power, if any. This
morning, for example, they said they were functioning entirely with
generators."
The organization also discovered that the number of casualties in
Baghdad is so high that accurate statistics were impossible to
maintain.
"Even the hospitals are having trouble keeping track of how many
patients they have," Westphal said, adding that some injured people
may be unable to reach hospitals.
Al-Kindi, one of the five major hospitals treating war wounded in
Baghdad, received more than 50 casualties in a five-hour period
Monday, Red Cross staff were told.
Westphal said the injuries were suffered in bombing and ground
fighting, but it was unclear how many of the wounded Iraqis are
civilians.
Westphal said Red Cross staff were trying to deliver drugs to
al-Kindi the only hospital they were able to reach Monday because of
the fighting in the city.
"Yesterday we managed to bring some drinking water to five
different hospitals and established bladder tanks at three
hospitals, but we are concerned," Westphal said. "A hospital
especially one where surgery is being done needs a lot of
water."
Outside of Baghdad, the Red Cross is receiving little
information, Westphal said. In the southern city of Basra, staff
stayed in their homes because it was considered too dangerous to go
out.
Westphal said Red Cross staff in Baghdad were being inundated by
Iraqis desperate to make phone calls to their families outside the
country. The Red Cross has one satellite phone available and lets
people use it to make two-minute calls.
"Despite the dangers, people were prepared to wait for more than
an hour to make a call," Westphal said.
The Red Cross gave no estimates on the number of deaths in Iraq,
and did not confirm U.S. Central Command estimates that between
2,000 and 3,000 Iraqi fighters were killed in Saturday's foray into
Baghdad by American forces.
photo credit
and caption:
An Iraqi woman cries whiles
visiting relatives at the Al Kindi hospital Sunday, April 6,
2003, in Baghdad. The woman at right was injured during
bombing raids near the Al-Rashid military complex on the
outskirts of Baghdad Saturday. (AP Photo/Jerome
Delay)
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