Doctors at the Chi Mei Medical Center in Tainan said yesterday afternoon that both President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀連) were in stable condition after yesterday's shooting, with Chen sustaining a laceration wound to his lower abdomen and Lu a wound to her right kneecap.
"President Chen's wound was 11cm long and 2cm wide. The wound ran horizontally across his lower abdominal region and was 2 cm deep," said Chi Mei Medical Center superintendent Steve Chan (
Chan said that Chen's wound had been disinfected and that contaminated tissue was removed before he was given 32 stitches. Chan said that Chen had not sustained any internal injuries and that the wound had only reached tissue just under the skin.
PHOTO: WANG YU-TING, LIBERTY TIMES
Chan also said that Lu had sustained a 2cm external wound on her right kneecap and that she received local anesthesia. No foreign matter was found in Lu's wound.
Both Chen and Lu left the hospital at around 7pm yesterday evening, bound for Taipei.
X-rays and computerized tomography scans (CT scans) that Chen underwent after his wound had been treated revealed that metallic material, identified as part of a bullet, was deposited between his body and his jacket in his lower back area.
Hospital officials explained that damage to Chen's jacket indicated that a bullet had penetrated from Chen's right and exited on his left.
Chan said that Chen had walked into the medical center under his own power at around 2pm yesterday and that an initial examination showed his vital signs to be stable. His blood pressure was 142 over 74, his pulse was 84 beats per minute and he was breathing at a rate at 22 breaths per minute. Despite his stable vital signs, Chen was treated in the hospital's intensive care unit.
According to Chan, Chen informed doctors that at the time of the shooting he heard a sound but at first did not realize that he had been injured. A little while later, he began to feel pain in his abdominal area.
The medical team that was traveling with Chen sent him to the hospital after noticing that he was bleeding.
Center officials said that Chen's condition would remain stable as long his wound did not become infected. Chen was prescribed antibiotics in order to prevent infection.
Hospital authorities said that Chen's jacket, the bullet and other items that might be relevant to the police's investigation into the matter would be handed over to appropriate authorities.
Chan said that Chen appeared calm and alert.
Upon entering the hospital, Chen spoke with first lady Wu Shu-chen (
National Taiwan University Hospital spokesperson Lin Ho-shing (林鶴雄) said that the hospital's emergency contingency committee had held a meeting upon learning of the shooting.
He said that the hospital was on standby yesterday afternoon in the event that Chen had to be transfer-red there for treatment.
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS