Almost 900 war-wounded Sudanese arrive in Adré hospital in eastern Chad in the space of just four days
19 June 2023
As violence rages in West Darfur, wounded people are coming in waves to Adré hospital in Chad, where they are being treated by MSF and Ministry of Health teams. As almost 900 wounded and 15,000 Sudanese refugees from West Darfur’s capital and its surroundings have reached the Chadian town of Adré in the last four days, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns of consistent reports of people being shot at and killed as they try to leave the city during their perilous escape to Chad. MSF urges all armed groups in and around El Geneina to spare the civilian population and to let people who want to leave the area to be safely allowed to do so.
After nearly two months of blockade and large-scale violence in El Geneina, situated approximately 35 km from the Chadian border, thousands of people are now giving their all to escape the siege and attacks.
“On Wednesday night, 14 June 2023, the governor of West Darfur was killed. At this moment we knew that the situation would get even worse, and it was a collective decision of the people of El Geneina to leave”, explained Nour, a 25-year-old from El Geneina who arrived at Adré hospital on Thursday, June 15.
A total of at least 622 injured patients have been brought into Adré hospital in the course of the last three days. Among them, about 430 are in need of surgical care. Some are being referred to other hospitals in Abéché. Most of the injuries are gunshot wounds.
“The situation is frankly overwhelming, but everyone is doing their utmost to cope with it.”
“The situation is frankly overwhelming, but everyone is doing their utmost to cope with it”, said Dr Seybou Diarra, MSF project coordinator in Adré. “We've had to discharge stable paediatric patients to bring in the paediatrics medical team to help out. Additional staff from the Chadian Ministry of Health are also working with us and some of the off-duty staff were called back to lend a hand. But with only one surgical team in place, we are overwhelmed in the operating theatre, we urgently need more beds and more staff.”
A large portion of the wounded are coming from El Geneina, the capital of Sudan's West Darfur state, and its surroundings, which is the scene of ongoing and intense violence. Local sources report that at least 1,100 people have been killed in El Geneina city since the conflict began in mid-April.
“We urgently need more beds and staff.”
“After nearly two months, we are only now starting to see people managing to escape from El-Geneina and make their way to Chad,” added Claire Nicolet, MSF head of emergency programs. “Yet thousands of people are likely to remain stranded, amid reports of intensifying and large-scale attacks this week”.
“The level of violence has been escalating, and people have felt and continue to feel exposed at any given moment to the risk of being targeted or exposed to violence” said Konstantinos Psykakos, MSF’s outgoing project coordinator who was in Adré, near the border with El Geneina city for the past two months, waiting for access to the city which was not facilitated.
Eyewitness accounts from the patients who have arrived in Adré hospital in Chad told our teams about mass killings, displacement, looting, women escaping alone with children, and dead bodies in the streets.
“The level of violence has been escalating, and people have felt and continue to feel exposed at any given moment to the risk of being targeted or exposed to violence.”
MSF teams, who have been working in Adré since 2021, set up a small emergency surgical unit in the district hospital a month ago in response to the conflict spreading on the other side of the border. They are also expanding medical activities to meet the increasing needs of Sudanese refugees in the area. Approximately 6,000 people have fled El Geneina and taken refuge in Adré over the last few days, joining more than 100,000 others who have already fled Sudan for safety in eastern Chad since mid-April.
In addition to calling on all parties to the conflict in and around El Geneina to spare civilians and their vital infrastructure and to let people who want to leave the city to flee unharmed, MSF is making an urgent call for humanitarian teams to be able to access the city and provide support so that the wounded and sick can be cared for.