Seven bomb blast victims transferred to Muhimbili

Seven people who were admitted to Mount Meru Regional Hospital and St. Elizabeth Hospital following Sunday’s bomb blast at a Roman Catholic Church here have been transferred to Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam for further medical attention.

The victims are among 24 others who were undergoing treatment at the two hospitals.
The seven patients were flown to Dar es Salaam by a charter plane owned by the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) and an aircraft belonging to Precision Air.They were identified as Atanasia Reginald, (14), Faustine Shirima, (34), Gabriel Godfrey, (9), Lucky Vicent, Albert Njau, (35 ), Jenipher Joacim, Apolinari Malamsha, and Fatuma Tarimo Arusha Regional Chief Physician Dr Frida Mokiti commended the government and other stakeholders for the support to the victims.
“It’s our hope that this transfer will make the victims regain their health,” she said. Currently, there are 19 wounded people who are still in the two hospitals.
“We reached the decision to refer the seven people to Muhimbili after realising that our hospital lacks some essential equipment needed in their treatment,” Dr Mokiti said.
She some of the patients were not responding well to treatment and “when we examined them, we found some had metals from the exploded bomb.”

“That’s why we had to refer them to Muhimbili, where there are all facilities needed.”
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu said: “We’re here to ensure that patients fly to the Muhimbili National Hospital. This is part of the government efforts to ensure that the victims regain the health.”

A relative of one of the victims, Stella Asei, commended the government for its immediate attention, saying “this exercise is very expensive for individual families to afford.”

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said three of its citizens had been arrested in Tanzania in connection with the bombing of a church on Sunday that killed two people and wounded 60.

Tanzanian government officials initially said four Saudis were being held after the attack on a Catholic church in Arusha in north Tanzania but the government subsequently identified them only as "foreigners of Middle Eastern origin" without giving their nationalities.

A diplomat from Saudi Arabia has been quoted as saying only one of those held was from the kingdom.

"We are following with interest the issue of the three citizens who are being held in Tanzania," the UAE Foreign Ministry of the US-allied Gulf state said on its Twitter account.

Last Sunday, a bomb blast hit a Catholic church in Arusha diocese, killing three people injuring more than 60 people.

Ten people have been arrested including four Saudis, one Kenyan and five Tanzanians.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN