Acehnese baby suffers burns

Acehnese baby suffers burns

SINGAPORE: An eight-month-old Indonesian baby who survived last month's tsunamis has been rushed to a hospital in Singapore with severe burns after a fire in the relief camp he was living in, a report said on Friday.

Heru suffered burns to 35 percent of his body when one of his siblings accidentally knocked a kerosene lamp into his cot, setting the bedding alight, the Straits Times newspaper said.

An Australian aid worker, Winston Cuthbert, discovered Heru in a terrible condition at a hospital in Meulaboh, a town on the west coast of Indonesia's Aceh province that was devastated in the Dec. 26 disaster.

"His eyes were completely closed up. They were congealed with mucus and blood. His burns were just popping up all over," Cuthbert told the Straits Times.

Heru, who was taken to the Singapore General Hospital, was believed to be in a critical condition when he arrived on Thursday, although Cuthbert said he was starting to heal.

"Every time he screams, we smile, because that means he's better," Cuthbert said. --AFP