UAE sends flying hospital to treat of injured Somalis in Mogadishu

A UAE flying hospital arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday as part of the UAE's massive medical efforts to treat hundreds of Somalis injured in last Saturday’s terror attack.

The flying hospital is carrying large supplies of medicines, medical equipment and logistics to increase the capacity of the already overwhelmed Somali hospitals in order to handle a large number of wounded, who are packed in the hospital corridors.

Another UAE plane will arrive later to transport seriously injured cases to Kenyan hospitals following co-ordination by the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, with the UAE Embassy in Mogadishu and Somali and Kenyan health authorities.

An ERC medical team is currently in Mogadishu to assess the health conditions of those injured and provide urgent medical care to them. Those who sustained moderate injuries were admitted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital and are receiving treatment under the supervision of surgical, burn and emergency specialists.

In another development, the ERC is continuing to extend humanitarian assistance to families who lost their breadwinners in the attack. The ERC is also sponsoring 300 orphans of these families for the next six months.

''The ERC is making every effort to reach out to these distressed families in remote districts in capital Mogadishu so as to alleviate their suffering,'' Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, ERC Secretary-General, stated.

''The UAE is among the first and fastest responders to the terror attack, quickly reaching to those injured,'' he noted.

''We immediately acted to provide urgent healthcare to those injured in the implementation of directives given by the leadership, which is following the evolving situation with deep sorrow. Quick action has helped much in easing the suffering,'' he added.

According to him, the ERC aid workers are working on various fronts to improve health conditions of the injured.

''We will spare no effort to limit the health suffering of the victims of terrorism,'' he stressed.

Somali officials thanked the UAE for its prompt action to provide healthcare to those injured following the terror blast.

They said the quick response had limited human casualties.