In empty Tripoli hospital, piles of dead bodies

Tripoli: Dozens of bodies lie in an abandoned Tripoli hospital in a neighbourhood of the Libyan capital that has seen some of the heaviest clashes this week between rebels and Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists.

The four-story hospital in the Abu Salim neighbourhood was completely empty on Friday morning. Shattered glass is scattered over the floors, dark with dried blood stains and with medical equipment strewn about.

In the hospital yard next to the parking lot is a pile of 20 decomposing bodies, all of them darker skinned than most Libyans, covered with blankets. Gadhafi had recruited fighters from sub-Saharan Africa.

In one hospital room are 21 bodies, piled onto gurneys. Another body lies on the driveway outside, a white sheet over it. The identities of the deceased are not known.