Pallai hospital seeks evacuation

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 March 2000, 04:54 GMT]
The Pallai hospital authorities appealed to the District Medical Officer of Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross to evacuate their patients to Jaffna town as they are facing a shortage of supplies due to the fighting since Sunday night.

The Medical Officer of Health (MOH) at the Pallai hospital said that it has become impossible to maintain the hospital due to the fighting and the uncertainty prevailing in the area.

Severe shortages of food and medical supplies will soon arise if the fighting were to continue in the area according to the Pallai MOH.

The ICRC could not reach Pallai hospital to assess the situation and arrange an evacuation yesterday as they could not get beyond Chavakachcheri due to the fighting a spokesman for the organisation said today.

Shops in the Pallai are now opened only for about three hours for the people in the town and surrounding villages to obtain essentials. Schools, government offices and most business concerns remain closed and there is no civil administration in this town sources said.

Meanwhile, in the Thenmaradchi division civilians in the Maasar and Soranpattu sectors were allowed by the SLA only to buy essential goods. Most civilians had kept indoors as moving out further north was not permitted.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that the Liberation Tigers who are strengthening their defences in Thalaiyadi had shelled the SLA garrison on the road from the coast to the Puthukkadu junction on the A9.