The Port Moresby General Hospital Accident and Emergency (A&E) department received a surge in fatal cases that resulted from the looting incidents on Wednesday, 10th January.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Port Moresby General Hospital, Dr. Paki Molumi stated that there was a total of sixty cases that they had received and attended to from the 10th -11th January, of which fifty-seven were males and three were females.
A total of nine male deaths were recorded from the cases received at the Emergency Department. Four were declared dead on arrival, four declared dead soon after arrival and one who died post-op.
Fifty-one of these cases were injured patients with injuries ranging from gunshot, bush knives, bottle and glass penetration and burns on various parts of their bodies including the head, neck, chest, abdomen, and limbs.
There was a total of thirty gunshot wounds, six bush knife wounds, ten patients with bottle or glass penetrating wounds and five burn patients.
Major injury sites recorded four patients with injuries to the head, one to the neck, ten patients to the chest, two to the abdomen, thirty to the limbs, two to the back and two with injuries to the pelvic.
Total number of patients that sustained minor injuries were twenty four and were treated and discharged. A total twenty-eight patients were admitted with fifteen surgical and thirteen orthopedic cases.
Dr. Mangu Kendino, from the A&E department confirmed that sixteen more patients had been brought in on the 12th January, which brought the total number of looting incident cases up to seventy-six.
“Majority of the new cases were gunshot wounds, with bush knife wounds which were probably sustained from fights amongst themselves or from security guarding properties that they might have attempted to loot.”
“The remainder of these cases were penetrating injuries and lacerations that would have been sustained from bottles or broken glass.”
“Patient history of these injuries are sketchy but all these cases are related to the looting incidents.”
Meanwhile, admitted cases are being observed and treated with patients expected to make full recoveries in the coming weeks.