Sri Lanka: 'civilians Are Dying, and the Hospital is Paralysed'
Doctor in the no-fire zone in Sri Lanka describes how cluster bomb attacks on a hospital have killed and injured many civilians
Cluster bombs and artillery shelling have killed many civilians at a makeshift hospital within the last strip of Sri Lanka's coastline still controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a doctor said today. Thangamutha Sathiyamorthy is a doctor working at the hospital in Puttumatalan.
He described to the Guardian the appalling conditions inside the no-fire zone, with cluster bomb attacks killing and injuring many civilians, including a doctor.
Speaking by radio telephone from a temporary hospital at Mullaivaikal, he said the bodies still lay where they were killed inside their bunkers.
"A lot of civilians were killed and injured. The day before yesterday [Monday] there was a heavy attack on Puttumatalan hospital and the surrounding area and many people were killed and the hospital was paralyzed," he said.
He said more than 600 civilians in the Mullaivaikal hospital had been injured in attacks this week, while two members of staff had suffered gunshot injuries.
"Today heavy fighting is going on. They are using heavy weapons. Bullets are coming freely to the civilians' area, most of the civilians are staying in their bunkers for safety, but unfortunately many gunshot injuries are coming [to the hospital] due to the gunfire to the civilian area."
He said many injuries were due to shelling, although the government has denied shelling the area.
"Eyewitnesses saw many dead bodies by the side of the road and in the residents' bunkers," he said.
He said shells had struck tents where civilians were sheltering, killing many hundreds of people.
Among the dead, he said, were the wife, child and two sisters of the director of education for the Mullaitivu district.
Sathiyamorthy claimed that there had been a number of cluster bomb attacks, one of which killed a doctor, Dr Sivamanokaran, in the temporary hospital at Valayadmadam.
"The hospital yesterday was functioning and the doctor visited that area and there was a blast that is a cluster bomb and so he died in the hospital area," he said.
"There are terrible conditions. If we go outside it is a problem and if we go outside we can get a blast injury because many injured civilians are coming to the hospital that way."
The Sri Lankan ministry of defence said today that it had captured the hospital at Puttumatalan, but gave no details of the operation.
Doctors at the hospital had been heavily criticized by the Sri Lankan government for describing civilian casualties, and the country's health minister last week warned that two regional health directors would face disciplinary action over claims that the army had shelled the no-fire zone.
He described to the Guardian the appalling conditions inside the no-fire zone, with cluster bomb attacks killing and injuring many civilians, including a doctor.
Speaking by radio telephone from a temporary hospital at Mullaivaikal, he said the bodies still lay where they were killed inside their bunkers.
"A lot of civilians were killed and injured. The day before yesterday [Monday] there was a heavy attack on Puttumatalan hospital and the surrounding area and many people were killed and the hospital was paralyzed," he said.
He said more than 600 civilians in the Mullaivaikal hospital had been injured in attacks this week, while two members of staff had suffered gunshot injuries.
"Today heavy fighting is going on. They are using heavy weapons. Bullets are coming freely to the civilians' area, most of the civilians are staying in their bunkers for safety, but unfortunately many gunshot injuries are coming [to the hospital] due to the gunfire to the civilian area."
He said many injuries were due to shelling, although the government has denied shelling the area.
"Eyewitnesses saw many dead bodies by the side of the road and in the residents' bunkers," he said.
He said shells had struck tents where civilians were sheltering, killing many hundreds of people.
Among the dead, he said, were the wife, child and two sisters of the director of education for the Mullaitivu district.
Sathiyamorthy claimed that there had been a number of cluster bomb attacks, one of which killed a doctor, Dr Sivamanokaran, in the temporary hospital at Valayadmadam.
"The hospital yesterday was functioning and the doctor visited that area and there was a blast that is a cluster bomb and so he died in the hospital area," he said.
"There are terrible conditions. If we go outside it is a problem and if we go outside we can get a blast injury because many injured civilians are coming to the hospital that way."
The Sri Lankan ministry of defence said today that it had captured the hospital at Puttumatalan, but gave no details of the operation.
Doctors at the hospital had been heavily criticized by the Sri Lankan government for describing civilian casualties, and the country's health minister last week warned that two regional health directors would face disciplinary action over claims that the army had shelled the no-fire zone.
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