South Sudan: Mass casualty in Abiemnhom Town

Early on Sunday morning, 1 March, large-scale violent clashes occurred in Abiemnhom town, in the northwest of Ruweng Administrative Area, significantly impacting people.

MSF supports the Ministry of Health Hospital in Abyei town which has so far received 80 patients with gunshot wounds including women and children. Sadly, some wounded patients have passed away including one pregnant woman.

This area has a long history of inter-communal violence. We have witnessed clashes before, but the scale of the casualties from this incident is particularly alarming.

“It was really difficult to manage the mass casualty, but many MSF and Ministry of Health staff came on their day off and from other facilities to support. For the surgical team it was a challenge to manage all of the emergency cases between the two operating theaters. Our triage area, ER, and wards were full of patients, so we expanded the capacity by using tents and a meeting space which also filled quickly.” Abraham Deng Lual Wek, MSF Nurse Supervisor, comments.

The MSF team in Twic County also provided a donation of supplies to Mother Theresa Hospital in Turalei. This outbreak of intercommunal clashes reflects the ongoing fragility of the situation in some areas of South Sudan, where cycles of violence continue to significantly impact communities and overwhelm an already weakened healthcare system.