Pinay on SQ321 to get surgery for neck fracture

ONE of the five Filipinos on board Singapore Airlines Flight 321 is expected to undergo neck surgery and another, a 62-year-old male, is in the intensive care unit at a Bangkok hospital, as a result of injuries they suffered when their plane encountered severe turbulence, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Thursday.

The Filipina, who works in Singapore, fractured her neck and back. Her condition remains «sensitive» but stable.

"[There is] no word yet on the treatment or surgery options for her back injuries," the DMW said.

Officials gather around the Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER airplane, which was headed to Singapore from London before making an emergency landing in Bangkok due to severe turbulence, as it is parked on the tarmac at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on May 22, 2024. A 73-year-old British man died and more than 70 people were injured on May 21 in what passengers described as a terrifying scene aboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 that hit severe turbulence, triggering an emergency landing in Bangkok. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

«Representatives from the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok visited the overseas Filipino worker in the hospital [on Wednesday], and arrangements are being made for a family member to join her as she recovers, they added.

Meanwhile, the 62-year-old Filipino passenger remains unconscious.

»Doctors are monitoring his condition for further evaluation and treatment. A nephew based in Bangkok is assisting him," the DMW said.

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Also, the Migrant Workers Office in London said the United Kingdom-based Filipina staff nurse and her two-year-old infant son, as well as her husband, are all in a stable condition.

The DMW said Singapore Airlines is covering all expenses of affected passengers on board flight SQ321, which was diverted to Bangkok following «severe extreme turbulence» on a nonstop flight from London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom to Singapore on Tuesday.

A Bangkok hospital said many of the more seriously injured people on SQ321 needed operations on their spines.

Twenty people remained in intensive care and a 73-year-old British man died after the Boeing 777, which was flying from