Nigerian Red
Cross Society (NRCS) buries six aid workers
Three days after air strikes
at a settlement for internally displaced people at Rann in Nigeria, two
surgical teams from the Red Cross with the help of one Nigerian surgeon
continue to care for those wounded in the blasts.
Around 100 injured people were evacuated from
Rann to Maiduguri. Two surgical teams in Maiduguri have been operating on
the most seriously wounded, including more than 20 children.
“Patients were taken to operating theatres
based on medical priority. By Friday morning, 24 of the most critically injured
patients had been operated on. Forty-four more patients will be operated on
later today and tomorrow," said International Committee of Red Cross
(ICRC) surgeon, Dr Laurent Singa. "One of our challenges was that there
were many children, some of whom did not have a family member with them. The
Red Cross volunteers have been doing a wonderful job taking care of those
unaccompanied children.”
Nigerian Red Cross Society teams also attended
to the bodies of people killed in the air strike in Rann and informed families
about the fate of their loved ones. The ICRC supplied body bags, as well as
bandages, drugs and IV fluids to the medical facilities, including a Maiduguri
military hospital.
The global Red Cross community continues to
mourn the six workers from the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) who were among
the dozens killed in the air strikes. NRCS volunteers are eager to begin a food
distribution to the more than 25,000 internally displaced people in Rann as
soon as possible. They feel this could serve as a gesture of humanity to honor
the memory of the six deceased volunteers.