Yesterday we reported the unfortunate incident involving three Austrian synchronized swimmers being struck by a shuttle bus within the athlete’s village in Baku, Azerbaijan. The swimmers are on-site in Baku competing in the inaugural 2015 European Games, whose Opening Ceremonies kick off tonight, June 12th.
Of the three synchronized swimmers involved in the accident, Vanessa Sahinovic, Luna Pajer and Verena Breit, Sahinovic was initially reported to have sustained the most severe injuries and was flown back to Austria (along with Pajer) to continue intensive care treatment. The latest news coming out of Austria at this time, is that Sahinovic is now being described as being in “stable condition”, being kept in a medically-induced coma following surgery.
A hospital spokesman told The Guardian that, although Sahinovic’s injuries were not life-threatening, the 15-year-old “suffered many fractures and more surgery will be necessary. The spine has been severely damaged.” The Austrian team press officer added, “Our team doctor here in Baku is in constant contact with the team back in Vienna and we expect to be in a position to provide more information about the extent of the injuries to the respective athletes in due course.”
The Azerbaijani authorities are looking into the incident and launched a full investigation into finding out exactly what happened at 8:30am on Thursday, June 11th, the time of the accident. You can follow this link to view actual footage of the accident, as filmed by someone who happened to be near the scene. Warning, however, the video is quite disturbing.
