CAIRO - About 8,959 persons, injured during the 18-day popular uprising against the former regime of president Hosni Mubarak, have undergone emergency surgeries in the Government-run hospitals, Ministry of Health officials said on Sunday.
The 8,959 protesters suffered serious injuries including gunshot wounds, broken bones, as well as traumas that were related to the street clashes that broke out on January 28 and after, the officials added. The Ministry decided to allow them into State-run hospitals and poly-clinics for free treatment, they added. Their injuries required urgent and life-saving treatment, which were provided by the Ministry hospitals and poly-clinics for free, the officials said. They added some 244 wounded protesters underwent lengthy operations to treat serious gunshot wounds they had sustained during the demonstrations.