CROATIA: BANGLADESHI UN PEACEKEEPERS WOUNDED

Описание: (13 Dec 1994) Eng/Nat

Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers, wounded in a Serb attack on the besieged enclave of Bihac, have arrived at an American field hospital in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.

One of the troops is in critical condition after the soldiers' armoured personnel carrier took a direct hit from two anti-aircraft missiles.

The convoy of ambulances carrying the Bangladeshis took nearly two hours to reach the American field hospital set up on the edge of Zagreb airport.

Serb forces have been blocking aid convoys trying to reach Bihac. But this time, they had to let the U-N through.

The Bangladeshis had been treated by a doctor in Bihac and Indonesian doctors sent to rescue them did what they could for the wounded as they drove in the darkness to Croatia.

SOUNDBITE:

"Yes we have four ambulance, three of them are armour ambulance and we are take our three armour ambulance escort by military police from Tapouska to this place."
SUPER CAPTION: Doctor Iwan Trehipsoro, Doctor Indonesia Medical Corps.

25 American doctors and medics had spent several hours preparing for the arrival of the wounded.

They worked with military precision to treat the injured through the small hours of the morning.

The Bangladeshi vehicle was fired on as it left the base of the Bangladeshi battalion, just south of Velika Kladusa, an embattled town near Bihac in north western Bosnia.

The rockets set the personnel carrier on fire and three of the soldiers received minor injuries, including burns. But two are in serious condition. One of them is in a coma and doctors say he may not survive the night.

SOUNDBITE:

"He's had some sort of blood trauma or penetrating trauma to the head that has caused him to be comatose and unresponsive. We've had to put a tube in and breathe for him which will help his brain injury while we assess the rest of his injuries. We know that he's lost part if not both of both hands. He also has other injuries which we haven't finished assessing. But he's critically if not fatally injured at this point. We'll be working with him through the night to try and save him."
SUPER CAPTION: Captain Gregg Parker, U-S Navy Surgeon.

Meanwhile, fighting and shelling have continued in the Bihac region and around Velika Kladusa.

The Serbs have cut off all U-N convoys into the Bihac enclave and pressure is mounting for the U-N to pull out all remaining Bangladeshi peacekeepers.

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