Pregnant woman 'blown through air' among injured

Last night all but one of the injured had been discharged from Manchester Royal Infirmary.

A pregnant woman, due to give birth in the next few days, was detained in hospital. The woman had a "very lucky escape" after she was thrown 15 feet through the air before landing on a traffic bollard, doctors said yesterday.

Kevin Macway-Jones, consultant in charge of the accident and emergency unit at Manchester Royal Infirmary, said: "She had a very lucky escape. They've all had a lucky escape."

Hospital spokesman Richard Emmott added: "When the woman was admitted she was complaining of abdominal pains after apparently being thrown 15 feet in the air.

"The worry was that she was about to give birth but she is not. Naturally she is highly stressed and worried about the baby and she now needs peace and quiet. Everything regarding the woman's pregnancy is normal. She is shocked and shaken but she has no other injuries.

"It's extremely unlikely that she'll be having her baby in our hospital."

The unnamed woman, who is thought to be in her early 20s, had been shopping with her mother.

A total of 75 victims were taken to the hospital within 45 minutes following the blast at the Arndale Centre one and a half miles away in the city centre.

Mr Macway-Jones said: "As soon as the explosion occurred we were alerted and the major incident procedure was put into action. Staff volunteered to come in and they have done an excellent job.

"Most of the injuries were not serious and there were relatively minor lacerations. In general the injuries were not too horrific - they are the kind of injuries we deal with in Manchester every Saturday night."

The Royal Infirmary's orthopedic registrar, Johnathan Borrill, said: "People were all a bit emotional but nobody was really upset. Some were crying and a few were angry at these people who had been trying to kill them."

Mr Borrill said the youngest patient he had treated was a four-month- old boy who had minor cuts to his hands. He said: "From a staff point of view it all went very smoothly. We did what we were trained to do. I'm very surprised that nobody has been killed."

Other casualties were taken to the Hope Hospital in Salford and the North Manchester General.

At one stage doctors at the Royal Infirmary were so worried about the well-being of the unborn child that they prepared to perform an emergency caesarean section. But the mother-to-be calmed down and was taken to the labour ward where she continued her recovery. The pregnant woman's mother also suffered injuries and yesterday was in a neck brace.

Another victim of the bomb, Sylvia Glenn, 44, a store detective at department store Kendals, said: "I remember the last bomb blast so I recognised this as a bomb."

Mrs Gleen, who has worked at Kendals for 17 years, was treated for a perforated eardrum and cuts.

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