Gaza wounded dying because ambulances can't reach them: Red Cross RAW STORY

Published: Monday January 5, 2009





Print This Email This GENEVA (AFP)  People wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday.



"The situation is extremely dangerous and the coordination of ambulance services is very complex because of the incessant attacks and military operations," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva.



"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances," she added.



The International Committee of the Red Cross was also concerned about water supplies in the densely populated coastal strip.



Krimitsas said two out of the 45 wells in the Gaza Strip were out of action after having been hit during Israeli air raids, while the pumps on eight others were no longer working because of power cuts.



"Half a million people, that's about one third of the population of the territory, are threatened with being completely deprived of water," she said.



Krimitsas said technicians needed to gain access to the electrical installations damaged during the fighting.



A team of four ICRC medical staff, including a surgeon, were allowed into the Gaza Strip from Israel on Monday after three days' delay, the relief agency said.



They are due to help staff at the territory's Shifa hospital carry out complex operations on the wounded. The medical team also brought in tetanus vaccines for children and blood supplies, Krimitsas said.



