Medical staff strike in Sebha after patient abducted and killed

By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.

Triploli, 16 December 2013:

Staff have gone on strike at the Sebha Medical Centre after a patient was kidnapped from . . .[restrict]an operation room today at gunpoint and killed nearby.

Mohammed Abdel Hafiz Busafa, Assistant Director for the Sebha Medical Centre, said that the body of a patient who was being treated for an infected gunshot wound has been found on the steps of a nearby building after unknown gunmen threatened doctors and staff and abducted him while he was under anaesthetic.

Busafa said the kidnapping and subsequent killing had caused “shock and bewilderment” at the hospital and added that medical personnel were in a state of fear. He expressed outrage at the abduction and condemned it as a appalling attack on patients’ rights. Busafa said that the acts of criminals had impinged upon citizens and the provision of medical services.

Patients at the Sebha Medical Centre are currently being referred elsewhere for treatment. [/restrict]