Khalifa's mercy act for teenagers

Two teenagers are being treated in Abu Dhabi after being airlifted from the Seychelles, where they were seriously injured in a bus crash. One of them, a boy, was reported to be having treatment for spinal injuries at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre after the crash on Praslin island on Friday. Doctors were also reported to be treating a girl, whose leg was so badly injured it may have to be amputated.

The hospital would not give any information when contacted yesterday. The bus overturned after veering off the road as it tried to avoid a truck that had been involved in an earlier accident. All 39 secondary school students on board were taken to hospital, with four seriously injured, according to the Seychelles newspaper The Nation. Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE, sent an air ambulance to the Seychelles after he spoke to its president, James Michel, according to a statement issued by the Seychelles' president's office.

Seychelles' health minister, Dr Erna Athanasius, described it as a "flying intensive care unit". Both the patients' mothers were on board, as was one of the teenagers' grandmother, and a Seychellois nurse who worked with three UAE doctors on the air ambulance. Dr Athanasius told The Nation that the boy required spinal care in the UAE and the girl was in danger of losing her leg. According to the report, the children's family members are staying in a hotel in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Athanasius saidthat another girl and boy were in intensive care in the Seychelles but were in a stable condition. Of the 39 children on the bus, 13 were discharged from hospital in Praslin on Friday and four remain in hospital. Another 22 were sent to Sainte Anne Island for treatment. Two of them were then transferred to the UAE, while another two remain in intensive care and five more are under observation.

President Michel said in a statement: "We are deeply grateful to the President and the people of the United Arab Emirates for their concern for the children injured in the bus accident. This gesture of support and readiness to aid in a moment of medical urgency are greatly appreciated." More than two months ago, the UAE appointed a non-resident ambassador to the Seychelles, Malallah Mubarak Suwaid al Ameri, who also acts as the UAE Ambassador to Tanzania. He is also the non-resident ambassador to the Republic of Malawi.

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