TWELVE BANJA LUKA BABIES DIED 33 YEARS AGO

BIJELJINA, MAY 21 /SRNA/ – Between May 22 and June 19, 1992, 12 prematurely born babies died in the intensive care unit of the Banja Luka maternity hospital. They might have had a chance to survive if oxygen had been available in the hospital or if they could have been transported to Belgrade for better medical care.

The first appeal for help from the Clinical Hospital Center in Banja Luka was issued on May 21, 1992. Medical staff attempted to substitute medical oxygen with industrial oxygen, which numerous individuals and organizations from Banja Luka delivered following the public appeal. However, this oxygen was not sterile, lacked the proper humidity level, and the cylinders were filled under different pressures. The first oxygen crisis was alleviated through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN peacekeeping mission in BiH, when, in early June, 180 oxygen cylinders and other medical supplies were delivered to Banja Luka by air. However, this was only a short-term solution, and soon the Clinical Hospital Center entered another period of uncertainty. A media campaign was launched in Yugoslavia, appealing for a flight permit to end the agony at the hospital. Many public figures supported this appeal, including the President of Yugoslavia Dobrica Ćosić and Serbian Patriarch Pavle. At the time, Muslim-Croat units controlled the so-called "Corridor of Life" in Posavina, so oxygen could only be delivered by air. Those who could have helped but failed to do so bore responsibility for this tragedy - primarily then UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the UN Security Council, and the Sanctions Committee, which delayed and ultimately failed to issue the necessary permit for a humanitarian flight from Batajnica Airport carrying oxygen and medical equipment. The usual procedure to obtain such a permit lasted up to seven days, but even after twelve days, the flight was not approved. In 2008, the Committee for Fostering the Tradition of Liberation Wars of the Government of Republika Srpska included the death of the Banja Luka babies in the Program for Marking Significant Historical Dates and Events of Republika Srpska, declaring May 22 the Day of Remembrance for the 12 Babies who died due to a lack of oxygen during the war in 1992.