ON DECEMBER 17 each year, Red Cross remembers its colleagues who have tragically been killed while carrying out vital humanitarian duties.
Red Cross offices across the nation held memorial services on Tuesday in honour of all staff and volunteers killed this year, with Mount Gambier representatives proudly raising a flag at the Cave Gardens.
Since 1996 there have been more than 500 Red Cross people killed in the line of duty.
Exact numbers are not known as reported deaths from national societies across the globe are incomplete and the circumstances surrounding some deaths are not yet known and names held due to privacy reasons.
This year has been one of the most violent years for humanitarian aid workers, with 45 Red Cross members loosing their lives.
On a global scale, a staggering 294 aid workers across all humanitarian organisations were killed, injured, kidnapped or assaulted during the first six months of this year.
The day has been marked since an incident occurred in 1996 where a field hospital in Chechnya was deliberately attacked at night and armed men stormed the hospital and murdered six staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
A seventh staff member, an Australian named Christoph Hensch, was shot in his bed and left for dead, however he survived and continues to work for the movement.
Ever since, the Red Cross remembers not only those who died in Chechnya, but all who died during the year while performing their humanitarian duties.
