Five Indian nurses hit in fresh Tikrit blasts; 46 huddled in hospital basement
03 Jul 2014
At least five Indian nurses of the 46 or more stranded in Tikrit were injured today after Iraq's ISIS militants blew up a hospital in the city, even as statements from the nurses say they have moved to the basement of the hospital where they are stuck following fresh bombings.
Tikrit is now under control of the Islamic militants. According to a BBC report, a nurse said a militant had asked them to take shelter in the basement after bombs exploded inside the compound.
This is the second time in two days that bombs have exploded near the hospital.
The nurses say they have been housed in a block of the hospital on the ground floor and the fourth floor.
Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson for India's foreign ministry, said that India had informed the Iraqi civilian and military authorities about the trapped nurses. But evacuation has been stalled as the roads to the nearest airports, Baghdad and Erbil, have been areas of heavy fighting between the Iraqi Army and ISIS militants during the last three weeks.
The nurses have said that food was being delivered to them, and that there were no patients in the hospital.
