queenlizhospital-AFP-670
A general view of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, on Oct 15, 2012, where Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by Taliban gunmen, was flown for medical treatment. — Photo by AFP

LONDON: Several people claiming to be relatives of Malala Yousufzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani girl shot in the head by the Taliban, tried to enter the British hospital where she was being treated, an official said Tuesday.

The medical director of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham where Malala is in intensive care stressed that the incidents did not create any security concerns and police said nobody was arrested.

“We have had some, I guess I would say, irritating incidents overnight and I understand that a number of people have been arrested but there are no security concerns,” hospital medical director David Rosser told journalists.

“I understand that a number of people turned up claiming to be members of Malala's family – which we don't believe to be true – and have been arrested.”

However a police spokeswoman denied that any arrests were made.

“We are investigating what happened but I can confirm that there were no arrests,” the spokeswoman for West Midlands Police told AFP.

The teenager spent a comfortable first night in the hospital, Rosser said, after she arrived in Birmingham in central England on a flight from Pakistan on Monday.

In an attack which outraged the world, Malala was shot on a school bus in the former Taliban stronghold of the Swat valley last Tuesday as a punishment for campaigning for the right to an education.

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...