Singapore Airlines: more than 20 people are treated for spinal injuries due to extreme turbulence on the flight that departed from London

More than 20 people who were on the Singapore Airlines flight, hit by strong turbulence on Tuesday, are in intensive care with spinal injuries, according to the head of a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand.

A 2-year-old boy is among the patients being treated at the hospital in the Thai capital, where the flight from London made an emergency landing.

Total, 46 passengers and two crew members They are still receiving treatment in Bangkok, the airline said.

Passengers told the BBC they felt the plane suddenly descend and that many of those not wearing seatbelts were “suddenly propelled towards the roof.”

Hospital director Samitivej Srinakarin said: 41 passengers are still there, half of them in intensive care.

Adinun Kittiratanapaibool reported that 22 people on the flight had spinal cord injurieswhile six other people are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 between London and Singapore suffered severe turbulence that caused the death of 73-year-old Briton Geoff Kitchen and the injury of dozens of people.

Kitchen is believed to have died of a heart attack.

Among those who are now in the hospital, there are six with skull injuries and 13 with muscle and soft tissue conditionsas well as injuries of the spine and spinal cord.

17 people have undergone operationsof which nine were related to spinal injuries, Adinun said.

The 2-year-old boy is being treated for a concussion, he added.

Those being treated include 10 Britons, nine Australians, seven Malaysians and four Filipinos. The oldest patient is 83 years old.

The Boeing 777-300 – which carried 211 passengers and 18 crew members– suffered severe turbulence over the Indian Ocean.

The flight was diverted to the Thai capital.

A rescue plane, carrying the remaining passengers and crew, arrived in Singapore early on Wednesday.

Goh Choon Phong, the chief executive of Singapore Airlines, apologized to all those affected by the “sudden and extreme turbulence”.

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