'Everyone upstairs is crying'
2003-07-08 12:47
Singapore - Laleh Bijani died on Tuesday just hours after her sister Ladan died in delicate surgery aimed at separating the 29-year-old Iranian twins who were born joined at the head, a nurse involved in the surgery said.
"Everyone upstairs is crying," said the nurse, who was directly involved in the operation. She was speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The second one has died," she said. "We treated them like family because they had been here for seven months."
Hospital officials had yet to officially announce the second death. Earlier, they announced the death of Ladan Bijani, saying she had lost a lot of blood as the two-day surgery was coming to a close.
Surgeons began a marathon operation to separate the twins on Sunday afternoon - warning that the operation could kill one or both.
It was the first time surgeons had attempted to separate adult craniopagus twins - siblings born joined at the head - since the operation was first performed on infants in 1952.
- AP