French hurt in China train crash to be treated
Updated: 2008-04-30 07:43
ZHOUCUN, Shandong-- The four French nationals injured in Monday's deadly east China train crash are to be sent to Beijing for treatment, the head of a local hospital said on Tuesday.
The Embassy of France in China has arranged a special plane to move them from Jinan, capital of Shangdong Province, to Beijing, said Liang Minglai, head of Zibo Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (TCMH).
The hospital is to transfer two of the injured to Jinan Airport late on Tuesday evening, and they will leave the city early on Wednesday, he said. The other two would be sent later in the morning.
The four would be treated in Beijing-based Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), one of China's best hospital treating bone injuries, he said.
The four, who had earlier been treated in three hospitals, were reunited at TCMH at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday following 14-year-old Pierre Emmanuel's arrival.
Pascal Boisson, 54, and his son Emmanuel left the hospital at about 10:47 p.m. while Boisson's daughter, Joanne, and his girlfriend, Robin Naurence, were expected to take off at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
"They will be accompanied by two nurses and one doctor on the way to Jinan Airport," Liang said.
Boisson was recovering but his six broken ribs still ached when he talked or laughed, while Naurence, who suffered a broken thigh, would recieve a surgery, said Sun Lanfang, the hospital vice president.
"We have used traction and other therapy to ease her pain. She's in stable condition."
Joanne, who suffered a slight back injury, and her brother Emmanuel still has extravasated blood around his brow.
"A specialist from Beijing told me that the four had no problems with traveling by air," said Joanne's boyfriend, Marin Carl, an engineer. "I really appreciate the help from the hospital and the Chinese government."
A high-speed train from Beijing to Qingdao derailed in Zibo at about 4:40 a.m. on Monday and smashed into a train running from Yantai to Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, causing the latter to veer off its tracks. At least 12 cars from the two trains derailed.
The accident killed 70 and injured 416.
A preliminary investigation suggested the train from Beijing was running at 131 kilometers per hour at the time of the accident, while the speed limit of that section was 80 kph. It happened just three days before the May Day holiday, when millions of Chinese holidaymakers will travel by train.
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