MONROVIA, JULY 29, 2003 (ZENIT.org–Fides).- “The rebels have penetrated the city center: innocent civilians are fleeing as mortars and bullets rain everywhere,” a missionary doctor at the St. John of God Catholic Hospital in Monrovia told “Fides” Service.
For two weeks the Liberian capital has been caught in violent crossfire between LURD rebels (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) and army troops loyal to President Charles Taylor.
“The situation is getting worse by the hour. People do not know where to go for safety. Death may come when you least expect it, like yesterday when a mortar hit a Protestant church killing at least seven people who had sought safety inside the building,” the doctor said. “Some 40,000 people are camped inside the sports stadium, others have taken refuge in churches and hospitals,” he added.
The doctor described the situation at Monrovia’s St. John of God Catholic Hospital: “We have eighty patients at the moment which is not a lot. There would be many more but it is difficult for people to bring the wounded to us because the streets are so unsafe with gangs of armed men robbing and looting everywhere. Normally we have a staff of seven doctors but not all are present at the moment because the street fighting makes it impossible to get here. A container with medical supplies for us is blocked at the port.
For the time being we have sufficient supplies but if we had to face an emergency with the arrival of more wounded I don’t know what would happen.”
