Some 22 of the 40 injured on the Singapore Airlines flight need spinal surgery, according to the latest medical report from the Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital in Bangkok, capital of Thailand.
From that hospital, where most of the injured are being treated, they also asked other healthcare centers for help so that their best professionals could collaborate with the treatments.
According to the latest medical report, 40 people are being treated, of which 20 remain in intensive care. “There are 22 injured people who suffer spinal cord injuries and another 6 who suffer severe contusions to the head,” said Adinun Kittiratanapaibool, director of the hospital.
At a press conference, the director reported that “none of them have their lives at risk,” and that the remaining patients who do not have the problems described remain in the care center due to a “broken bone.”
A public relations official at the Samitivej hospital confirmed to The Associated Press that other local hospitals were asked to “give up their best specialists” to assist in treatments.
The incident occurred last Tuesday when a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 ER traveling from London to Singapore suffered turbulence while flying over Burma. It happened about ten hours after starting their journey and 2 and a half hours before reaching their destination. Due to turbulence, an emergency landing in Bangkok was requested.
As a result of the incident, a 73-year-old British man died of a heart attack and 104 people had to be treated in Thailand for injuries of varying severity, of which more than half have already been discharged, as confirmed by the hospital.
The plane was carrying a total of 211 passengers and 18 crew, most of them Australian, British and Singaporean.
Most people associated the turbulence with strong storms, but the reasons why the plane had to deviate from its original path are still unclear.
