Hundreds of refugees stranded on Portuguese ship

Between 200 and 300 people fleeing the fighting in Bissau were stranded on board a Portuguese freighter which ran aground yesterday off the capital, AFP reported. It said a launch from the French warship, Le Siroco, had gone to free the freighter, whose passengers are mainly women and children. On land, at least 80 people have been reported killed and 300 wounded since Sunday, AFP reported, quoting hospital sources. “The situation is catastrophic in (Bissau’s) main hospital, where 300 people cannot be treated for want of medical supplies,” a hospital worker told AFP. Most of the casualties occurred on Sunday under the barrage of artillery and automatic weapons.