- 26 May 2009 01:51
#1917537
This is the one of the saddest stories from the last war in the Balkans.
It brings very bad memories every may/june....My goodness how this was horrible....
Banja Luka is the capital of Republika Srpska.
It brings very bad memories every may/june....My goodness how this was horrible....
Banja Luka is the capital of Republika Srpska.
http://www.zlocininadsrbima.com/EN/News ... osnia-1992
The death of 12 newborn babies in Banja Luka was a tragic incident during the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, when 12 Serbian infants died at the Banja Luka Hospital neonatal intensive care unit, because of the lack of oxygen needed for their treatment.
These deaths invoked a large-scale military action called "Operadion Corridor", organized by the Army of Republika Srpska against the regular Croatian army and the Bosniak Muslim army. The operation was conducted between June 14 and June 26 1992.
Croatian and Muslim armed forces blocked the "Posavski corridor" that connected Serbian Krajina and Serbia. The corridor cut off Banja Luka from Serbia. Because of this, it was not possible to supply Banja Luka with oxygen by land. Only the air supply remained as an option, but it wasn't possible either because of a flight ban over Bosnia and Herzegovina, imposed by the United Nations Security Council. An airplane intended to fly from Belgrade to Banja Luka with oxygen supplies did not get a clearance.
Numerous pleas for help were sent via radio, television, Voice of Srpska, and other newspapers, but although UNICEF (the chief of UNICEF, Alen Cord, was informed) and representatives of other international humanitarian organizations were familiar with the problem, the plane with oxygen had to wait for several days for the clearance to arrive, which never did. TV Belgrade journalist Tatjana Lenart made a TV interview with UN Secretary General Butros Butros Gali in which he was informed about the situation , but he did nothing to save the babies. Shortly afterwards, 12 newborns died from hypoxia at the Banja Luka hospital. Even though the doctors tried to use "industrial oxygen" supplied by the Army of Republika Srpska and several contractors and citizens, it was not enough to save the babies.
Seven days after the death of the last baby, Army of Republika Srpska cleared the corridor to Serbia, which made future oxygen supplies possible.
List of died babies
Name of Mother Name of Baby Gender Date of Birth Date of Death
DuÅ¡anka Äukić unnamed male May 22, 1992 May 22, 1992
Živka Knežević unnamed male May 22, 1992 May 22, 1992
Fatima Dedić unnamed male May 23, 1992 May 27, 1992
Željka Tubić unnamed male May 28, 1992 May 28, 1992
Zilha Murica-Delić unnamed female June 1, 1992 June 1, 1992
Safeta Medić unnamed female May 26, 1992 June 2, 1992
Nađa Puška unnamed female May 29, 1992 June 1, 1992
Dragoslava Marić unnamed female June 3, 1992 June 5, 1992
Milena Sandić unnamed female June 15, 1992 June 16, 1992
Dragica Komljenović unnamed female June 1, 1992 June 19, 1992
Majda Äuran unnamed male June 17, 1992 June 17, 1992
Grozda Rauš Vladimir male May 28, 1992 June 19, 1992
Survived babies
* Slađana Kobas; born on June 18, 1992 was the only baby that survived from May 22 to June 19, 1992. Because of the lack of oxygen, she had permanent eye, brain and lung damage, and later suffered from bone cancer. She died on February 9, 2006. aged 13. She was buried on February 11, 2006. in Prijedor.
* Marko Medaković; born on June 21, 1992. After birth he was hypoxic for around 10 minutes, which caused the loss of the two thirds of his lungs, cerebral palsy, brain hematoma, and spine injury. Snježana Brezo made a documentary about him, which is to be screened on the Berlin International Film Festival.
"The Aggressor is the one who attacks before the USA does", Milos Zeman, the Czech President