A surgical team from the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli, a spokesman has confirmed.

The four-strong delegation was able to evacuate 17 people left without care in a hospital in the south of the city.

ICRC spokesman Steven Anderson told the Swiss news agency that the team had arrived with a lorry full of medical supplies. A second team is due to come from Tunisia at the weekend.

The 17 people were evacuated from the Abu Salim area of the city which until then could not be reached because of fighting, Anderson added. The ICRC has already been able to distribute medical aid to 500 people but “there are a lot more victims”, Anderson said.

The ICRC has also raised concerns about the treatment of detainees on both sides in Tripoli. According to the Associated Press, it has been able to visit some prisoners on both sides.

swissinfo.ch and agencies