Liberia Orphan Rescue Blocked

The United Nations suspended the evacuation of 500 Liberian orphans Tuesday after thousands of other refugees angry at being left behind blocked relief flights.

The orphans are among 50,000 refugees in Totota, a town 75 miles northwest of Monrovia, the capital. The territory is on the front line of Liberia’s civil war.

U.N. officials have evacuated only 30 of the children to an orphanage in Monrovia. They said it would be at least four days before helicopters could resume flights into the area. First, they said, rescuers must calm the tens of thousands of refugees not slated for the special relief effort.

Liberia’s war has killed at least 150,000 people and made refugees of more than half the country’s 2.3 million people.