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Hospitals that treated Westgate victims get Sh47mn

"We have collected a total of Sh123mn for the entire Westgate cause.  Sh47mn will be disbursed today to the hospitals that admitted and treated victims of the attack," he said/FILE

“We have collected a total of Sh123mn for the entire Westgate cause. Sh47mn will be disbursed today to the hospitals that admitted and treated victims of the attack,” he said/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 14 – Hospitals that treated victims of the Westgate terror attack will get Sh47 million of funds collected from the public after the siege, according to the Kenya Red Cross.

Secretary General Abbas Gullet said on Monday the money will be released in tranches for accountability.

“As of this afternoon we have collected a total of Sh123 million for the entire Westgate cause. Sh47 million will be disbursed today to the hospitals that admitted and treated victims of the attack,” he said.

“A further Sh15 million will be paid out for the psycho-social and trauma victims where they will go through a counselling programme.”

Speaking to the media at the Aga Khan Hospital, Gullet however appealed to insurance companies to carter for bills of patients that are covered under them, saying the money collected was not sufficient to meet all costs.

He says this will help the Task Force he heads cater for patients who are financially unable to meet the costs.

“Up to Sh60 million of this fund will go towards the hospital bills for the patients; we also note that some patients are covered by insurance companies. If insurers pay for bills of their clients more funds can go into paying for the patients who cannot afford to pay their bills,” Gullet explained.

Deloitte is the auditing firm charged with accounting for the money collected.

“The auditing firm is receiving the bills and with the help of volunteer doctors they are cross-checking the bills to ensure their authenticity,” said Gullet.

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The hospitals that will receive the money are the MP Shah, Aga Khan, Mater, Kenyatta National and the Nairobi Hospitals.

Gullet further explained that part of the 17,240 pints of blood collected has been distributed to the hospitals but most of it has been stored in the National Blood Bank.

He confirmed that 10 patients were still admitted to various hospitals and that 23 people were listed as missing.

The September 21 attack on the Westgate mall by terrorists allied to the militant group Al Shabaab claimed 67 lives, and left 240 other people injured.

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