2007年VOA标准英语-Red Cross Warns of Thousands Fleeing Mogadishu

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
24 April 2007

The International Committee of the Red Cross reports hundreds of civilians¹ caught in fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia have been wounded in the past few days and thousands of people continue to flee. The ICRC warns the health situation in the city is deteriorating². Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from ICRC headquarters in Geneva.

hovers3 above the outskirts4 of Mogadishu, after heavy fighting, 21 Apr 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070601/1046530.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Smoke hovers above the outskirts of Mogadishu, after heavy fighting, 21 Apr 2007

The International Committee of the Red Cross calls the fighting in Somalia just the latest in a series of catastrophes⁵ in the country.

ICRC spokesman, Florian Westphal, says the inhabitants of Mogadishu are caught up in the worst fighting in 15 years.

"We support a number of medical structures, hospitals and the like in Mogadishu and the structures we have supported told us that over this weekend alone, they received 300 people who were wounded in the fighting, the majority of them civilians," Westphal said.

"At the moment, they are still working with the medical supplies which we were able to provide them with a couple of weeks ago and at the moment, that still seems to be holding," he added.

Westphal says the ICRC has been providing drinking water for 50,000 people daily. It also has been supplying displaced people with essential household items.

He says the health situation in the city is worsening and lack of safe water and sanitation⁶ is increasing the health risks.

"There is also regular occurrence of cases of watery⁷ diarrhea in Mogadishu at the moment," he said. "Again the reports we are getting, I am speaking about an average of 1,000 cases a week. Our partners of the Somali Red Crescent Society are running five rehydration centers in the city with material provided by us to try and help deal with the problem."

Somali women with luggage leave Mogadishu, 01 Apr 2007

The U.N. refugee agency says more than 320,000 people have fled Mogadishu since the beginning of February.

UNHCR Spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis says aid workers describe chaotic⁸ scenes as displaced people try to get into the small and overcrowded town of Afgooye, which is 30 kilometers west of the capital.

"The road linking the area to the capital reopened yesterday [Monday] morning and since then it has been filled with a continuous flow of displaced people," said Pagonis.

"One of our staff members in the area said the Afgooye area was jammed with more than 41,000 displaced Somalis. He said they were hungry and thirsty and the crowds were becoming increasingly difficult to control, making aid distribution difficult," she added. 

Pagonis says many of the displaced lack food and there is a severe water shortage. She says about five Somali aid organizations are trying to truck relief supplies to Afgooye every day from Mogadishu, but deliveries are disrupted by the frequent closure of the road.

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

4 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

5 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

6 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

7 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

8 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。