Dire conditions in Libyan siege city

Residents of the city of Sirte say people wounded in fighting are dying in the main local hospital because of a shortage of fuel, oxygen and other supplies. Hundreds of residents drove out of Sirte on Sunday, fleeing weeks of fighting between provisional government forces surrounding the besieged city and loyalists of deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Dire conditions in Libyan siege city Fleeing residents said gunfire, shelling and airstrikes in Sirte have made life intolerable. They said some wounded people died on the operating table of the Ibn Sina Hospital because of power cuts triggered by a lack of fuel for generators. Medics said oxygen and medicines also were running low. Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross reached the hospital on Saturday, delivering some supplies including dressing kits, body bags and 400 liters of fuel. It was not clear when they would return with more supplies. Shelling killed three members of a family, including a child, as they fled Sirte on Saturday. Some residents blamed civilian casualties in the city on National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters and NATO airstrikes. The NTC and NATO said Gaddafi loyalists have endangered civilians by using them as human shields. Sirte is the birthplace of Gaddafi. It is one of only two towns where Gaddafi loyalists have been resisting NTC forces that ousted him from power in the capital, Tripoli, in August. Fighting in Sirte (Beta)

Dire conditions in Libyan siege city

Fleeing residents said gunfire, shelling and airstrikes in Sirte have made life intolerable. They said some wounded people died on the operating table of the Ibn Sina Hospital because of power cuts triggered by a lack of fuel for generators. Medics said oxygen and medicines also were running low.

Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross reached the hospital on Saturday, delivering some supplies including dressing kits, body bags and 400 liters of fuel. It was not clear when they would return with more supplies.

Shelling killed three members of a family, including a child, as they fled Sirte on Saturday. Some residents blamed civilian casualties in the city on National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters and NATO airstrikes. The NTC and NATO said Gaddafi loyalists have endangered civilians by using them as human shields.

Sirte is the birthplace of Gaddafi. It is one of only two towns where Gaddafi loyalists have been resisting NTC forces that ousted him from power in the capital, Tripoli, in August.