Siriraj surgeons save severed hand

Doctors at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok have successfully reattached the left hand of a student who was attacked by students from another school on Monday.

The student, 17, lost the hand after it was chopped off at the wrist with a long knife while he was riding a motorcycle on Rama III Road in Yannawa district.

He was first sent to Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital and later referred to Siriraj Hospital.

Siriraj Hospital director Visit Vamvanit said a surgical team took 13 hours to reattach the hand.

The patient will remain under special care to ensure no complications arise.

Complications could include infection and renal failure as the patient was referred to Siriraj Hospital over an hour after the hand was severed.

Assist Prof Sorawut Chu-ongsakul, who performed the operation, said the patient may regain 80% of his hand function. Physical therapy would be an important factor in his recovery, he said. The student studies at Bangkok Institute of Technology and his alleged attackers are from Siam Technology College.

The officers raided an apartment on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Suan Luang district as Barrie Alhaji Abdulai was allegedly about to go out to deliver fake gold to his customers.

Police said that a search of his room turned up small items looking similar to gold, packed in two bags weighing a total of four kilogrammes.

Mr Abdulai, 48, admitted the items were not made from real gold and that they were usually sold to unsuspecting foreigners in Thailand, police said.

He said his gang bought them from Malaysia at 200,000 baht a kilogramme, and sold them at 500,000 baht a kg, according to officers.

He claimed he only acted as a ‘‘product courier’’ while an accomplice lured victims into buying the fake gold, police said.