Hospital in border town struggles to tend to casualties of Libya violence

Salloum, Egypt:  A bus carrying Egyptians and Libyans fleeing the violence in Libya faced a brake failure and crashed on Friday night, leaving five people injured.

The bus, hanging from a steep hill, led to a brief closure of the road to and from the Egyptian-Libyan border at the town of Salloum.

Doctors at Salloum Central Hospital, the only civilian hospital in the town, said they were facing shortages in specialists and some equipment.

Those who were seriously injured have been taken to Alexandria by ambulance, approximately 600km away, a drive that takes up to seven hours.

Dr Abdul Salaam Abu Al Nour, a doctor on duty at the Central Hospital, said the hospital had received "many" injured Libyans and Egyptians.

"I coudn't count those I treated but some had very serious injuries. An Egyptian who was shot in the leg had to be taken to Alexandria, and a Libyan had a fragmentation grenade blow up in his face as he tried to throw it back at the mercenaries who had fired it," he said,

The Libyan lost his eye and had to be transported because the hospital had no eye specialists.

A number of volunteers were seen at Salloum preparing to enter Libya with aid and medical supplies. A group of doctors however said that they were facing difficulties getting in.

Journalists also reported facing difficulties doing their jobs, as Egyptian authorities confiscated satellite communication equipment at Cairo airport citing "security threats".