scontri violenti in Giamaica

["Nello Margiotta" <animarg@tin.it>]

West Kingston death toll now at 25
3 treated at KPH
CASSANDRA PEART, Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, July 10, 2001



NINE people have been pronounced dead of a total of 52 gun shot victims who
were taken to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) for treatment since
Saturday, when the running gun battle between members of the security forces
and gunmen began in West Kingston.

These figures were supplied to the Observer at 4:00 pm yesterday by Errol
Beckford, the chief executive officer at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).

However, the death toll stands at 25, with the addition of 16 bodies that
were picked up off the streets yesterday by Madden's Funeral Home. Officials
said the decomposing bodies could not have been picked up earlier because of
the heavy gunfire in West Kingston.

Beckford could only speak for those victims captured in the official KPH
data. He said that of the 31 gunshot cases which turned up at the hospital
on Saturday, four were pronounced dead. And of the 16 people who sought
medical attention for bullet wounds on Sunday, four deaths were reported.

Yesterday, doctors at the KPH saw five gunshot victims, one of whom was
pronounced dead.

However, Beckford told the Observer that the hospital was under less
pressure. "Our patient load has dropped, and we have adequate supplies here
at KPH. But the consensus was that we would assess the situation on a daily
basis," he said. The decision, he said, came out of a management meeting
held earlier in the day.

A subsequent statement issued by the hospital said that following a review
of its operations, a decision was taken to implement several emergency
measures. These included, continued patient care, arrangement for staff
welfare and the internal relocation of some patients and emergency
provisions to ensure food supplies.

"Emergency arrangements were also put in place to replenish and ensure
adequate stocks for medical supplies, which had been depleted in dealing
with the increase in gunshot wounds since Friday," said the statement.

Yesterday, the Junior Doctors' Association (JDA) called on the perpetrators
of the violence to allow "good sense to prevail" and warned that more
doctors would remain off the job if the situation worsened.

"The upsurge in violence in West Kingston has driven fear into the hearts of
the doctors.... Already, several members of the health team have remained in
the safety of their homes rather than risk their lives to go to work," said
a JDA statement.


Nello

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