104 still recovering in hospitals

Seven people were discharged from hospitals throughout Northern Ireland yesterday after treatment for injuries sustained in the…

Seven people were discharged from hospitals throughout Northern Ireland yesterday after treatment for injuries sustained in the Omagh bombing. A total of 104 people, including a pregnant woman, are still recovering in hospitals. Injuries included loss of arms and legs, severe facial and body wounds caused by shrapnel, broken bones and extensive burns.

In Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital, none of the 22 patients admitted after the bombing - 15 women, five men, and two children - have been discharged. Two Spanish girls sustained serious brain injuries and are described as critical, but doctors said yesterday they had been stable for 12 hours. Five women and a man remain in a critical condition. Three men are described as ill but stable.

One man is in a satisfactory condition. One woman is described as ill, one is ill but stable, three are stable, two are satisfactory and three with serious eye injuries are described as serious but stable. The two children are in a critical condition.

At Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, where 22 people are detained - 12 women, two men and eight teenagers - three people have been taken off the critical list. But a Spanish boy is still described as critical. He and another Spanish boy have broken legs, abdominal wounds and facial burns, which will require extensive plastic surgery. They remain unaware of the deaths of another student and their party leader, according to the deputy Prime Minister of Spain, Mr Francisco Alvares Coscas, who visited them in hospital yesterday.

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Three other patients in Altnagelvin are very seriously ill, three are described as ill, and 13 are stable, recovering from a range of injuries including broken bones, severe facial and body lacerations, and burns. Two women and one man have had legs amputated.

One man and two women have been discharged from the Erne Hospital in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, after receiving treatment for their injuries. There are now 21 victims in the hospital - five men, 14 women, a boy and a girl. The boy and three women are in intensive care and are described as ill but stable. The other patients are stable. A Spanish woman who sustained injuries caused by shrapnel is due to be flown home to a Spanish hospital.

Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh has discharged four patients and one woman was transferred to the Belfast City Hospital. There are now 21 casualties of the bombing in the hospital, three of whom are children, with abdominal and chest injuries caused by shrapnel and extensive burns.

A woman was transferred last night from Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh, bringing the number of casualties in the Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, Belfast, to eight - three women, a man and three girls. A Spanish man and a girl are among the patients. The man underwent surgery yesterday at the hospital. All the victims in the hospital are described as stable.

None of the 10 casualties being treated in South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon, including a pregnant woman, have been released. Three men and seven women are ill but stable. One woman, aged 29, who sustained severe facial, chest and limb shrapnel-injuries, remains ill but stable.

Hospitals in the Border area, close to Omagh, supplied support in response to requests from hospitals in Northern Ireland.

The North Eastern Health Board said in a statement: "The board acknowledges the difficulties that our Northern colleagues face over the next few days and week and will continue to respond to any requests from them for support and assistance."

There have been reports of nurses, doctors and other medical personnel from the Republic offering their services over the weekend to help relieve strain on staff in those hospitals most affected by the results of the explosion on Saturday.

While hospitals contacted yesterday did not officially send staff or equipment, it is believed some medical personnel offered their services in a private capacity.