Looted Iraqi hospital in chaos
2003-04-11 10:55
Baghdad - Al-Kindi Hospital, one of the biggest medical centres in Baghdad, has been looted and conditions there are "chaotic and catastrophic", says a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Medical co-ordinator Peter Tarabula said the hospital was looted after Saddam Hussein's authority crumbled on Wednesday and United States troops rolled into central Baghdad.
It was the first time in several days that the ICRC had inspected a hospital in the uncertain security situation in the Iraqi capital.
Twenty-five people were admitted to the hospital on Friday after being shot in clashes during looting.
The hospital, in the east of the city, has been ransacked and all staff have fled, with the exception of two doctors who administer first aid, but do not carry out operations.
All patients have left the hospital, one of Baghdad's largest, and Shi'ite fighters from the southern city of Najaf under the leadership of Sheikh Abbas al-Zubaidi have set up camp there.