Sri Lanka: ICRC carries on evacuation of sick and wounded by sea

[International Committee of the Red Cross] A ferry flying the flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) left Putumattalan today for Trincomalee with over 400 passengers on board, including patients and accompanying family members. “The ICRC was able to take action because both parties granted safe passage to our ship and gave…

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Trapped Sri Lankans ‘dying in makeshift hospital’

[The Observer] Doctors say wounded Sri Lankan civilians are dying for want of proper medical treatment as they lie trapped in a makeshift hospital in the last rebel-held pocket in the north-east of the island. This weekend, hundreds of injured civilians poured in to the improvised medical facility in Putumattalan village, which has been repeatedly…

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Sri Lanka: 16 patients killed in hospital shelling

[AP] At least 16 patients being treated at a makeshift hospital in the northern Sri Lankan war zone were killed by shelling, the Red Cross said Tuesday, as the military accused rebel fighters of killing 19 other civilians fleeing theĀ area. The United Nations, meanwhile, said it was outraged by the “unnecessary” deaths of hundreds of…

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Sri Lanka: ICRC evacuates over 240 wounded and sick from the Vanni by sea

[ICRC] A ferry flying the flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is currently evacuating about 240 patients from Putumattalan to Trincomalee. They had fled Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital in the northern Vanni region on 4 February after it sustained repeated shelling. The patients are expected to arrive in Trincomalee this evening and receive…

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