Oslo- Norway's health authority has admitted to racism in the ranks of its emergency services after widely publicized case involving a severely injured dark-skinned foreigner. The admission follows on the case in which medics called to attend to a dark-skinned immigrant injured in an Oslo park on August 8, had refused to help him and left him lying on the ground.
The Aftenpost newspaper reported Thursday that Oslo's public health officer had concluded in an investigation that the medics had made "explicitly racist remarks" and had offered no assistance, therefore grossly neglecting their duties.
A black woman said medics made a brief appearance at the scene where the bleeding man was lying and advised her that he should take a taxi to get to hospital.
Police arrived afterwards and without any urgency, took particulars of the seriously-injured man.
Authorities initially dismissed allegations of racism and referred to the incident as one of "tragic misunderstanding."
The victim was taken to the Ullevaal Hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain haemorrhage and spent nearly a week in a coma.
