Redemption Hospital remains functioning although MSF expat staff cannot reach the facility. National staff members remain in the facility which is now in no-mans-land

"At the moment everything's very tense," said 42-year old nurse Tom Quinn, a member of the medical emergency team from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) that will remain in Monrovia. "We heard some shots this morning, some heavy bombs, but since then nothing." "The city's commercial activity has come to a virtual standstill - with almost all the shops shuttered - while armed men patrol the streets.

"The wounded had been admitted to Redemption Hospital, (one of two remaining) hospitals in city of about one million. MSF has supported services at Redemption Hospital and its annex, Island Hospital, for years. "

Redemption is in the middle of the front line, so we can't access it at the moment," Quinn said. (note: the facility was emptied and abandoned on June 10) "They [Liberian medical staff] have seen quite a number of casualties. Island Hospital has been looted. It is completely empty now. And still in no man's land."

"Possibly 100,000 people fled to the centre of Monrovia from IDP camps on the outskirts of the capital. These people have no access to food supplies because the fighting disrupted the World Food Programs' first scheduled widespread food distribution since March.

"The overcrowding, lack of water, and deteriorating sanitary conditions poses further dangers for the people of Monrovia, especially because cholera is endemic to region.

"There have been several epidemics since the 1990s," Quinn explained. "Before this particular offensive, it started to increase, which is normal for this time of year. But the situation could deteriorate."