Fierce fighting between the army and a paramilitary unit left hundreds dead and thousands injured. But while they are needed more urgently than ever, hospitals are forced to close and doctors are unable to do their jobs. Even the dead are often no longer cared for. Eyewitnesses tell of the dead rotting away in their hospital beds.
“Decomposing bodies are kept in the wards because there is no other way to house them,” said Attija Abdullah, secretary general of the Sudan Medical Association. “The mortuaries are overcrowded and the streets are littered with corpses.” The fighting led to the “complete collapse of the health care system,” Abdullah says.
WHO: Deaths from attacks on health facilities
“The hospital was shelled, there was fighting right in front of it,” the father of a man with leukemia told AFP news agency. And the clinic in Khartoum is not alone: according to information from the Medical Association, 13 hospitals across the country were attacked and 19 others evacuated. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports at least eight deaths from attacks on health facilities.
As the fighting reaches the clinics, the doctors face a difficult decision. “We feel compelled to let the patients go,” says association head Abdullah. “If they stayed, they would be killed.” Nearly three quarters of the clinics in Khartoum have now been closed. The rest only provides emergency services.
Many wounded will die because doctors cannot come to them. On social media, Sudanese are desperately trying to find medicines for chronically ill relatives. And the Medical Association gives advice on Facebook on how to deal with decomposing corpses.
Medical laboratory infested with dangerous pathogens
But there may be an even greater danger. After the occupation of a state medical laboratory with samples of pathogens, the WHO warns of an “extremely, extremely dangerous” situation. WHO spokesman Nima Saeed Abid spoke on Tuesday of a “very high biological risk” associated with the “occupation of the medical laboratory by a party to the conflict”. He did not say which of the two sides in the conflict occupies the laboratory. The facility stores samples of several potentially deadly pathogens such as cholera, measles and polio, according to WHO. All lab technicians present were expelled by the fighters, it said.
270,000 refugees expected
Outside the capital, little is currently known about the security situation in Sudan. Heavy fighting had been reported before the ceasefire, especially from the western region of Darfur. Thousands of Sudanese have tried to flee to Egypt. The United Nations estimates that up to 270,000 people could flee the northeastern African country for neighboring Chad and South Sudan.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
