More than 300 people wounded in brutal fighting in Sudan’s Darfur region have arrived at a hospital over the border in Chad in just three days, says medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
“The situation is frankly overwhelming, but everyone is doing their utmost to cope with it,” said Dr Seybou Diarra, MSF project co-ordinator at the hospital in the Chadian border town of Adré.
At least 242 wounded were received on Thursday alone, with another 50 being brought in on Friday, MSF said in a statement.
About 130 of those are in need of surgical care and some are being referred to other hospitals in Abéché.
“We’ve had to discharge stable paediatric patients to bring in the paediatrics medical team to help out. Additional staff from the Chadian Ministry of Health are also working with us and some of the off-duty staff were called back to lend a hand. But with only one surgical team in place, we will soon be overwhelmed again in the operating theatre,” said Dr Diarra.
Most of the injured have come from the city of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, where it is now estimated at least 1,100 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in mid-April.
West Darfur’s governor was killed on Wednesday hours after he was interviewed on television and accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its Arab militia allies of committing genocide against black African communities.
MSF says approximately 6,000 people have fled El Geneina and taken refuge in Adré over the last few days, joining more than 100,000 already seeking safety in Chad.
Earlier, the US State Department said there was a pattern of targeted ethnic violence against non-Arab populations, with credible evidence that the RSF had destroyed entire villages and carried out rapes and murders.
