THAILAND: Phuket plane crash victims to be transferred to Bangkok for specialist treatment

Victims of the plane crash in Phuket on Saturday (September 16) who have suffered severe skin burns will be moved from Phuket to Bangkok General Hospital later on Tuesday (September 18) on a military aircraft, medical officials said. Patients who suffered more than 40% skin burns need to be treated in the Special Burns Unit at Bangkok General Hospital. Some of the 41 survivors are receiving treatment for severe injuries, including serious burns. "There are five patients ready to travel. Today, it's the German people. They have minor injuries and swollen muscles on their arms. They are ready to go," said Kongkiat Kespechara, Director of the Bangkok Hospital in Phuket, a branch of the main hospital in Bangkok. "Right now we have 30 patients and they are safe. During treatment there could always be other complications that could cause other diseases. We are prepared for any complications that could arise," Kespechara added. Police interviewed some of the patients being treated at Phuket's Bangkok Hospital, including German Christoph Falchetti and Austrian Marcel Squinobal. The identities of the victims are slowly being released. The names of 32 Thais and 25 foreigners have been confirmed so far, but some relatives are frustrated at the slow pace of identifying the dead. The hospital released the names of the patients they are treating in the hospital. The wreckage of One-Two-Go flight OG 269, which crashed while attempting to land at Phuket airport during bad weather conditions, has now been moved near the airport building, two kilometres from the original crash site. Regular flights from Phuket resumed in the morning with dozens of tourists leaving the resort island. One-Two-Go Airlines also resumed regular flights with a trickle of passengers checking in. The resumption of flights came as news broke that the Indonesian pilot of the budget airliner tried to land despite being warned of windshear threats. A top aviation official said two other pilots had reported dramatic changes in wind speed and direction as they landed minutes before the doomed One-Two-Go flight. The Indonesian flight captain and his Thai co-pilot were both killed. The flight data recorders from the American-built airliner were sent to the United States and could take two weeks to analyse, officials say.

ITN Source | September 18, 2007

Tags:. .wind. .serious. .safe. .conditions. .treating