JUBA: A dozen patients have died and dozens more wounded are without care in a South Sudanese hospital after fighting forced medics to flee, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday.
At least 12 patients have died, while at least 40 wounded or sick are in need of help in the hospital at Kodok in the war-torn northern state of Upper Nile, the ICRC said.
The ICRC team of five medics -- who normally provide up to 700 consultations a week -- left after the fighting on July 5 and are now in the capital Juba until security improves.
"The hospital is virtually empty of any qualified personnel to provide quality care at a time when it is most needed," said ICRC aid worker Konrad Bark, who was forced to leave. "The situation has gone from bad to worse."
The hospital was also damaged in the fighting between rebel and government troops.
The deaths are the latest in a long list of atrocities that include girls being gang raped by soldiers then burned alive, boys castrated, and the recruitment of armies of child fighters. Hospitals have been deliberately targeted in the war.
AFP
