THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 14, 1994 TAG: 9412140443
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Five Bangladeshi peacekeepers whose armored car was struck by a Serb missile have been taken to a U.S. medical compound outside Zagreb, Croatia, where they were treated by a Portsmouth-based Navy medical team.
The United Nations peacekeepers arrived at the Navy Fleet Hospital Zagreb at 10:30 p.m. Monday for treatment of injuries suffered in the missile explosion and subsequent sniper fire in the war-ravaged region of Bihac.
One of the peacekeepers died early Tuesday morning after being treated for facial burns, an eye injury and a massive wound on the left wrist.
The other four peacekeepers are listed in good condition.
The five were injured in the renewed fighting in northwest Bosnia, where Serbs struggle for control of the Bihac pocket. They were transported by land to the U.S.-run hospital on the U.N. compound of Camp Pleso.
The hospital - staffed by 235 medics, most from Portsmouth Naval Medical Center - is responsible for treating U.N. peacekeepers who are injured or become sick in the 3-year-old civil war.
``They treated them, and the four are doing a lot better,'' said Navy Chief Jeff Valdez, a spokesman for the hospital.
``Everyone is really, really on a good note here because of what happened,'' he said. ``It brought us right out of the doldrums and back into focus on why we are here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Portsmouth-based Navy medical team treats United Nations
peacekeepers at the Navy Fleet Hospital Zagreb. The five
Bangladeshis were wounded in a missile explosion and subsequent
sniper fire in Bihac, a region ravaged by the civil war. The
hospital is staffed by 235 medics.
by CNB