ALGIERS (Updated 4) - Doctors in Libya's rebel-held city of Misrata are operating on people with bullet and shrapnel wounds in hospital corridors after attacks by government forces killed dozens and wounded many more, residents said on Tuesday. A resident reached by telephone told Reuters 40 people were killed in shelling on Monday, and early on Tuesday tanks in the centre of the city were firing again, killing four young children when the car they were in was hit. Misrata has been under siege for weeks by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Western airstrikes on a military base south of the town failed to halt the attacks, with pro-Gaddafi forces moving their armour into the city where it is harder to hit them from the air. "There is a catastrophic situation here," a resident, called Mohamed, told Reuters by telephone. "We call on humanitarian organisations to intervene as soon as possible to provide food and medical help." A rebel spokesman described chaotic scenes at a clinic which has been turned into a makeshift field hospital, as people arrive with bullet and shrapnel wounds. "There is a shortage of staff and medicine. There aren't enough beds. There are no operating rooms so most of the surgeries are done in the hallways," said the spokesman, Mohamed Ahmed. Reports from Misrata – Libya's third-biggest city which lies about 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital – could not be verified because Libyan authorities have prevented journalists reaching the city. Libyan officials made no comment, though they have said in the past the rebels are al Qaeda militants assisted by Western powers who are trying to steal Libya's oil. Another resident, called Saadoun, said the four young children were killed when they were being driven out of the city. He said the parents were safe. "The children have been turned to pieces. We do not know which part is for which child. It's horrible. Horrible," said Saadoun. "Their father ... has collapsed and is in total shock." Accounts pieced together from people inside Misrata speak of a town where residents huddle in their homes because they fear if they go out they could be hit by snipers on rooftops or tanks in the centre of town firing shells. Residents said there were about seven tanks concentrated in and around the city's main thoroughfare, which is called Ramdan Swehelli Street but is know to locals as Tripoli Street. There were also reports that pro-Gaddafi forces had set up temporary bases at a vocational training institute and in the grounds of the city's main hospital, which has been closed for maintenance for several years. At the clinic now standing in as a hospital, residents said there were over 100 people in a serious condition who could not be adequately treated there and needed to be evacuated. Witnesses said doctors were forced to turn some wounded people away and others were treated on the floor because of the shortage of beds. The rebel spokesman, Mohamed Ahmed, said: "Many of the wounded are left untreated. There are many people who are shot in the leg or shoulder and are left with bullets or shrapnel inside them because there aren't enough staff to treat them." "The situation could lead to a disaster," he said.
