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SHOTS FIRED AT EVACUATED PATIENTS |
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by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Posted: 3:18 p.m. ET Doctors told me that while trying to evacuate critical patients from Charity Hospital in New Orleans, two of the evacuation vehicles came under fire. The doctors said they were able to get all but one of the patients out of the hospital. Who was shooting at these vehicles? The doctor I spoke to had no idea. He said a person in a white shirt from a high building started firing upon them as they were trying to evacuate. Charity Hospital is one of the bigger hospitals in downtown New Orleans. It has a lot of indigent patients. As the doctors were describing it to me, the hospital is overflowing with patients right now and has poor resources. Doctors said there is lots of water in Charity Hospital's hallways. There's poor electricity and poor resources. They are trying to move their patients down to Tulane's hospital. The doctors were frightened for their lives. There was no police presence except for the private armed guards. There was no U.S. military presence. They were very concerned about this. (See the video report of a sniper's attack at the hospital -- 1:06) This is shocking as a doctor. As a human being, it's unbelievable. Right now, I'm sitting at this airstrip in Baton Rouge waiting for a helicopter that is coming to evacuate infants. But they are indefinitely delayed because they think it is too dangerous to go in there and land a helicopter and bring these infants to Houston. I've been in Iraq and Sri Lanka. It is remarkable that this is happening at hospitals here where patients are trying to be evacuated. Calm prevails amid Mississippi devastation. |
