BANJA LUKA MARKS 34 YEARS SINCE DEATHS OF 12 BABIES CAUSED BY OXYGEN SHORTAGE

BANJA LUKA, MAY 22 /SRNA/ - The commemoration marking 34 years since the deaths of 12 Banja Luka babies at the then Clinical Center because of the lack of understanding among the world powers, who did not allow the transport of oxygen, has begun in Banja Luka.

At the monument to the 12 babies at the New Cemetery, clergy of the Banja Luka Eparchy are serving a memorial service attended, in addition to the families of the babies, by Republika Srpska Minister of Education and Culture Borivoje Golubović and Minister for Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education Draga Mastilović. The event is also attended by Isidora Graorac, president of the Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, as well as representatives of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Labor and Veteran and Disability Protection and the Banja Luka city administration. At 11:00 a.m. wreaths and flowers will be laid at the Life Memorial Monument, followed by addresses by officials. At 1:00 p.m. tree planting and the establishment of the 12 Babies Alley, a place of respect and eternal remembrance, will be organized at Mladen Stojanović Park. The Republika Srpska Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, which organized the commemoration, reminded what it described as the inhumane and uncivilized 1992 decision by world powers to block the transport of oxygen to Banja Luka, resulting in the deaths of 12 babies at the Banja Luka Clinical Center. "The thirteenth baby died 13 years later, while the fourteenth survived with severe mental and physical impairments," the organization said. Under a United Nations Security Council decision in May and June 1992, international flights, including those carrying oxygen cylinders from Belgrade to Banja Luka, were banned, leading to the deaths of 12 newborn babies who were in incubators. The first baby died on May 22, 1992, followed by the agony and deaths of the others. By June 19 that year, 12 babies had died in Banja Luka, becoming a symbol of human rights violations and the inhumanity of the international community. The tragedy ended after the breakthrough of the Corridor, which reconnected the Banja Luka region with other parts of Republika Srpska and Serbia. The thirteenth baby, Slađana Kobas, lost her battle for life at the age of 14, while the fourteenth baby, Marko Medaković, suffered lifelong consequences due to the lack of oxygen.