Injured diplomat likely to be flown back to Israel

The Israeli women diplomat, hurt badly in a car bomb blast on Monday, is likely to be flown back to her country once her condition stablises.

Tal Yehoshua, 40, wife of an Israeli defence attache, who herself is a diplomat and working in the mission, was critically injured in the explosion and underwent surgeries to remove splinters from her spine and liver.

"At the moment we are not working on her being airlifted immediately. She has to be stable and recover before we do that. The doctors have to give a clearance for the same," Israeli embassy spokesperson David Goldfarb said.

He said "once stable, naturally the diplomat would like to go back home."

Meanwhile, sources said two Israeli doctors, who are assisting the team treating her, have suggested that she may be moved by Friday. The Israeli doctors arrived in New Delhi late on Monday night.

Doctors at Primus hospital here have removed a small portion of her injured liver during the surgery at a private hospital.

Doctors treating her are of the opinion that she needs to be in constant medical observation for next 24 hours even as she was conscious and talking to her family.

The diplomat was injured in a suspected terror attack when the embassy car she was travelling in exploded seconds after a motorcycle borne youth placed a magnetic explosive on the vehicle at a traffic junction.

Dr Deep Makkar, in-charge of international patients at the hospital said, "Her condition is stable, her vitals are alright and she is conscious. We are monitoring her condition."

Doctors said there might be a possibility of her getting paralysed.

"There might be a possibility (of her getting paralysed) as she has injured her spine and the nerves. We have fixed it and we can confirm about it only after she is out of ICU.

Shrapnel have been removed from her body. She had splinter injuries in the liver too and that led to a lot of bleeding. But that has been taken care of and she seems fine," he said.

"She has minute splinters lodged in her body and they will stay with her for the rest of her life without harming her physical condition," he said.

The doctor said Yehoshua only remembers that there was a blast and she was pulled out of the car by the driver who first wanted her to go to the hospital but then obliged her request to be taken to the embassy first.

Meanwhile, the driver of the vehicle, Manoj Sharma too was rushed to the Primus Hospital on Monday night after he complained of pain.

"Manoj was brought to us after he complained of abdominal pain and pain in the back. He has suffered injuries in the eye too. We will keep him under observation for some time, conduct a couple of test before we discharge him. He has very minor injuries," Dr Makkar said.

Meanwhile, Medical Superintendent of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Dr T S Sidhu, said, "Three persons with splinter injuries, who were brought to us, were discharged last (Monday) night."