On the Foreign Scene
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called out the high risk of biological hazard at a laboratory caught up in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.
Officials said it was unclear who was behind the occupation of the National Public Health Laboratory in the capital Khartoum.
The WHO told the BBC yesterday that workers can no longer access the lab.
It warned that power cuts were making it impossible to properly manage material at the lab.
Officials said that a broad range of biological and chemical materials are stored in the lab. The facility holds measles and cholera pathogens, as well as other hazardous materials.
Also, a lack of power is putting depleting stocks of blood bags stored at the lab at risk of spoiling.
The lab is near the centre of Khartoum and not far from city’s main airport.
It lies just outside the area where Sudan’s military headquarters are located, and where a lot of the fighting has been taking place.
The city has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
