The mass of Tamil women and children struggling to walk out of
Some of them had become so thin that their bones could be seen under the thin layer of fleshless skin. They were in bloodstained, dirty and torn clothes that had not been washed for several weeks.
Many had untreated festering wounds. Some were so sick that they could not stand on their feet. At the first opportunity, they collapsed on bare earth.
Barring a few who were willing to speak, most were too weak to even utter a few words. When they did, they had only one wish: water.
And they were famished. Most of them had not had a proper meal for a long time. Their eyes begged for food.
Countless others never made it out of the shrunken territory the Tamil Tigers still hold in
These were people who had retreated along with the Tigers as the military rapidly advanced from January this year, raining shells and mortars, at times tearing apart civilians fleeing with the rebels.
Those who have interacted with the civilians undergoing treatment in hospitals in
One survivor described horrific scenes she saw in the rebel land. 'People were blown up. People lost legs or hands. Families got separated. There was no one to care for the seriously injured and dying.'
Two small hospitals in Tiger territory inundated with the dying ran out of life saving medicines.
The injured included those shot by the Tigers as they tried to escape.
Food was in short supply. What little was available was prohibitive. A population cowed down by armed combatants lived in bunkers, praying they would live.
The wounded tore parts of their clothes to dress themselves up. If the bleeding did not stop, then they would throw a lump of sand and then do the bandaging. Wounds festered.
Some who barely made it out of the war zone died in buses while being transported.
The blood and gore have driven a handful insane. One Tamil woman has been tied to the hospital bed because she keeps running in the ward topless.
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