LEBANON: FIERCE FIGHTING CONTINUES AS BEIRUT HOSPITALS FACE CRISIS OVER THOUSANDS OF CASUALTIES.

Record ID: 376224

  • Title: LEBANON: FIERCE FIGHTING CONTINUES AS BEIRUT HOSPITALS FACE CRISIS OVER THOUSANDS OF CASUALTIES.
  • Date: 29th October 1975
  • Summary: 1. GV & SV Moslem and left wing gunmen firing from sand-bagged position; gunman's eye view form barricade (3 shots) 0.11 2. GVs man across road and sand-bagged position with gunmen firing (3 shots) (heavy gunfire) 0.27 3. SV & GV OF Gun position on land-rover PAN TO Kantari sector of city 0.30 4. GV OF Dummy used to draw sniper's fire 0.24
  • Embargoed: 13th November 1975 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIRUT, LEBANON
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Reuters ID: LVA1HT0V4XH568G5HMVXOFEXHVBD
  • Story Text: Fierce fighting between rival gunmen continued in Beirut on Monday (27 October) as the city's hospitals faced a crisis over the thousands of casualties wounded in the battles.

    The streets of the city were empty except for the gunmen -- opposing right wing Christian Falangists and left wing Moslems and Palestinian commandos.

    Anyone venturing out faces the risk of death with the front line simply a series of scattered makeshift barricades. The fighting is sporadic and nerve racking -- mainly because the opposing forces have little strategy or direction.

    So far all appeals for a ceasefire have failed -- moves by the government, Syria and the Arab League have all come to nothing.

    Meanwhile the Beirut hospitals have been seriously hit. Almost 1,000 people have died in the fighting and thousands have been wounded. The hospitals have been filled to near capacity with casualties. And it's usually the civilians, not the gunmen that are the victims.

    Conditions at the American University Hospital in Beirut are better but elsewhere supplies of vital drugs and other items have run low and many doctors cannot report for duty because of the fighting.

    Because battle lines are so ill defined, knowing which streets are safe is next to impossible and with fighting still spreading to new areas, some hospital officials fear they are heading for a medical crisis for which few are prepared.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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