BANGKOK: Some people on board Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 suffered brain and spinal cord injuries, and six individuals were in critical condition when they arrived at the Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital in Bangkok, the hospital’s director said in an update on Thursday (May 23).
The hospital is one of several that took in casualties from the flight after the aircraft experienced severe turbulence and made an emergency landing in Bangkok.
Twenty-two people still receiving treatment at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital as of 3pm on Thursday sustained spinal and spinal cord injuries, while six have skull and brain injuries, said the hospital’s director Adinun Kittiratanapaibool during a press conference.
It is too early to say if any of the patients will suffer permanent paralysis from their injuries, he said.
Around 6.30pm on Thursday, one patient with a bandaged head and whose neck was in a brace left the hospital in a wheelchair. The patient was escorted by several men and got into a taxi with one of them.
Another 13 people are being treated for bone, muscle and other injuries, bringing the total number of patients there to 41. A representative of the hospital said no one has requested to be medically evacuated to receive treatment elsewhere.
The age of the patients ranges from 2 years old to 83 years old.
One Singaporean remains warded at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital.
The number of patients in ICU across the three hospitals in Bangkok is 20, unchanged from Wednesday, Mr Kittiratanapaibool told reporters. No details were provided on the status of patients in Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital and Bangkok Hospital.
Mr Kittiratanapaibool added that the hospital uses a colour-coded system to assess the severity of a patient’s condition when they arrive at the hospital.
On Tuesday, six were classified as red cases, meaning that their conditions were severe and potentially life threatening. As of Thursday, none are in life-threatening condition, he said.
The director added while doctors at the hospital are well equipped to treat the types of injuries involved, they have never come across cases where those injuries were caused by air turbulence. There have been 17 successful surgeries performed on the casualties so far.
Dozens of passengers from a Singapore Airlines flight were sent to hospitals in Bangkok for treatment for injuries on Tuesday.
They sustained injuries after SQ321 hit a sudden and extreme patch of turbulence over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar at 37,000 feet.
The flight was on its way from London to Singapore before the emergency landing in Bangkok.
A 73-year-old British passenger, Mr Geoff Kitchen, died on the flight. Neighbours told reporters that he was headed for the “holiday of a lifetime” with his wife.
A total of 131 passengers and 12 crew members who were on board SQ321 arrived in Singapore on a relief flight early on Wednesday morning.
The airline said another five passengers would return to Singapore later on Wednesday, and one crew member would fly to Singapore on Thursday.
