World

Doctors flee Sri Lanka fighting, hospital shutdown in war zone

by Sanjay Jha | February 5, 2009 at 01:24 am

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The trapped civilians in the northern Sri Lanka's war zone are left without any medical facilities as the last operational hospital has been shut down after it was attacked for a fifth time in three days.

The closure has left thousands of trapped civilians without access to medical care.

The Sri Lanka government says it is just days away from victory over Tamil Tiger forces, and both sides are resisting international calls for a ceasefire.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said staff and patients fled the hospital in Puthukudiyiruppu after Wednesday's attack - the latest in a series that have left 12 people dead.

"We are shocked that a medical facility has again sustained direct hits. We have grave concerns for the well-being and safety of those who fled," the head of the ICRC's Colombo delegation, Paul Castella, said in a statement.

The hospital's staff and 300 patients were evacuated to a coastal area deeper inside the war zone where there is no reliable source of drinking water, Sarasi Wijeratne, a spokeswoman for the ICRC, said.

Aid workers are trying to find them a better place to stay or get the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters to grant them safe passage out of the conflict zone, she said.