Injured S. Koreans to return home

Injured S. Koreans to return home

INDONESIA: Four of the six South Koreans wounded in the latest series of bomb blasts on the Indonesian resort island of Bali are to be repatriated, a travel agent said on Sunday.

"From the six, four will be evacuated," said Tommy Soetrisno, travel operation director of PD Tour, which brought the group to Bali.

Soetrisno told AFP at the hospital that the four would be flown back to South Korea for further treatment there. All six were women, he said.

The two remaining South Koreans include one woman who is due to undergo surgery to treat an injured bladder, and another who wants to keep her company, he said.

"The hospital has already confirmed that there are not too many problems for this (the repatriation)," he added.

A nurse caring for the six Koreans, Hilvana, said that any patient allowed to be evacuated had to be able to sustain seven straight hours of travel.

"The doctors are very strict about this, and if there are indications that they will not be able to stand seven hours of travel, the permit for them to leave would not be given," Hilvana said.

Soetrisno said that the travel company, which brings about 500 South Korean visitors to Bali every year, would bear the whole cost of the repatriation.

He said that the six were part of a group of 18 South Koreans who had opted to dine at Jimbaran that evening, while the others decided to go somewhere closer to their hotel. -- AFP