A nurse attending to the Somalian man who was first believed to be dead, and was left inside the anchor locker of a small boat after he was found adrift with five other men, has said he is ”progressing” despite his “serious condition”.
The nurse, on condition of anonymity, told Minivan News that the man was brought to Kulhudhufushi Regional Hospital along with the five men yesterday.
”The man’s condition is very serious,” she said. ”He is admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.”
‘The man has injuries to his back bone and shoulder and is very weak, she said.
The other five men’s condition is now stable, she added.
One of the five Somalian man was due to be buried on the assumption he was dead, after rescuers observed he did not move his body or show any sign of being alive.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the body was handled to police the next day morning, and claimed it was not the responsibility of the police to declare the death of the person.
Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) confirmed the death of the man after he was checked by a doctor at Haadhaalu Makunudhu Health Centre.
However, MNDF Major Abdul Raheem denied the claims in Haveeru, claiming they were “misleading”.
Abdul said that MNDF did not ask the doctor to check the body and did not declare the death of the body either.
”When Haveeru contacted us, we told that there was one dead body because when MNDF arrived to the island, the doctor at the health centre told us that five men were admitted to the hospital and one dead man was left in the boat in which they came,” said Abdul. ”We cannot ask the doctor, after he says a man is dead, how he knew that he was dead.”
Abdul said that later MNDF understood that the doctor also did not check the body.
Head of Makunudhu Health Centre Ibrahim Shareef confirmed the doctor did not check the body.
”Police and MNDF also did not,” said Shareef, ”and the doctor was busy attending the five admitted men,”
Shareef said the five men first treated at the health centre were now in a stable condition, leaving the only one man’s condition serious.
An official at Makunudhu said that “most” of the islanders believed the six men were pirates.
He said that there was one “very strong” man, who was really fit compared to other five men, ”and seems to be well trained for such incidents.”
”He was the only man that could stand up, while all others did not have any power,” he said. ”He seems to be the leader of them.”
He said that the alleged leader of the crowd answered even when other member of the crew were questioned.
”When we gave them food, he took it all and divided it among everyone, and he told everyone not to eat too much,” he said. ”Maybe because he understands that they have been starving for a long time and it is not good to eat too much.”
MNDF Major Abdul Raheem said that there was no sign that they were pirates.
”We checked their boat and the nearby uninhabited island also,” he said, ”they had nothing with them.”
He said that according to how the wind was blowing during this monsoon, anybody traveling from Somalia who lost control would potentially be carried towards Maldivian waters.
”But we cannot estimate how long it will take, because the wind blows at different speeds at different times,” he said.
”Somalians use those type of boats both for fishing and piracy,” he added.
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Firstly alhamdulillah the Somali man has survived. I am writing this as a result of the misuse of the word Somalian to describe me by individuals, academics,voluntary organisations, government institutions, media/news agencies and others I have had to state the obvious that I am Somali, I speak Somali, and my people are Somali. I hope that helps corrtect a common misheld assumption that Somalian is correct.
Firstly alhamdulillah this Somali man has survived. I am writing this as a result of the misuse of the word Somalian to describe this man and myself by individuals, academics,voluntary organisations, government institutions, media/news agencies and others I have had to state the obvious that I am Somali, I speak Somali, and my people are Somali. I hope that helps corrects a common misheld assumption that Somalian is correct.
It is good to that we are able to show our hospitality to those in need and all these men are now getting better. When we have an opportunity to just help, we should do our best because hospitality means more when it is towards the weak and not the rich who can afford private insurance. Islanders are still down to earth compared to our local politicians in Male'.
I am just wondering how does our system work. MNDF,POLICE,MEDICAL SECTOR & THE ISLAND administrations seems all confused and has no idea of what they are talking about. At least POLICE & MNDF will surely have a proper STANDARD OPERATING PROCEEDURES.
The next thing that came to my mind is about these Somalians. It is apparent that there seem to be an increase on similar castaways.If I am not wrong some months back there was another boat with belieaved to be Somalians and there is still under Maldives captivity.
I believe these are actually pirates who may have lost their way due to engine failier or for whatever reason. They would have drifted 100's of miles to reach our waters, passing thru busy shipping lanes and wonder why they were not rescued.
These people have no identities to prove they Somalians.My concern is will the Somalian Govt...If a Govt of Somalia exists, accept these people.
This is a very seriouse concern that our Govt should look into otherwise we will have another re-settlement of Somalian Pirates in Maldives.
Radhun,
You are right. They must be nothing but Pirates. Somalian pirates have become a nuisance in the Arabian and Indian ocean. It would be better to chuck these people out of Maldives as soon as possible.
yasir is that because they are black? if they were white i suppose someone would have have seized some land and call it S-izrail and given it to them.. Racist
Ali Waheed will petition the Somali's case to the Gaumee Salaamathaai behey committee. Dr. Shaheed must be fully investigated for all his Somali connections. These people are extremely dangerous suspected pirates, who has full potential of teaching the Maldivians the art of piracy.
DRP MP Roxana is currently discussing MDP and Somalia pirates connections with the international community.
Indian Ocean is getting infected with not only Somali Pirates, it is getting infected with international fishing terrorists if one may say so!
All fish in the other oceans have been depleted and now the flotillas that ravaged these oceans are in and on route here!
Middle East fishers, especially Iranians have all capabilities to venture into our waters.
This do not seem to be just a one time happening!
It rather seems to be the beginning of successive waves to come!
Offering help to people in distress is not a problem and our Defense Force is extremely capable of handling these situations!
Our Defense Force, is extremely capable handling these situations. Let them do their duty to the best of their ability without destructive criticism and allegations!
Ahmed Nazeer's skills in the use of English needs a little improving. I hope Minivan will not take offense. Just a little bit of constructive criticism. The structure and flow of this particular writer's prose is a tad lacking and taxing on the reader.
we need to be careful
It is very sad that a Nurse who has made an oath to "patient confidentiality" is leaking information to the press!!!! Minivan should think twice before publishing reports given by such an unethical source! She/he has broken the code of medical ethics!!! How much of the information she gives can you trust!
Anyway this is just something responsible journalists should consider!
As for the Nurse, Shame on you and its sad that you bring shame to your profession!