Doctors report starvation in besieged Syrian town of Madaya

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked the Syrian government for permission to send mobile clinics and medical teams to the besieged town of Madaya to assess the extent of malnutrition and evacuate the worst cases, its representative said.

An aid convoy brought the first food and medical supplies for months to the town, where thousands are trapped and local doctors say some have starved to death.

Elizabeth Hoff, WHO representative in Damascus who went into Madaya in a UN convoy, said the agency needed to do a “door-to-door assessment” in the town of 42,000 people, where a Syrian doctor told her 300-400 needed “special medical care”.