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Ten people injured in Kerch college shooting remain in intensive care — minister

Ten people who were injured in the shooting will be taken to Moscow hospitals for treatment, Russian Healthcare Minister Veronika Skvortsova said

KERCH, October 17. /TASS/. Ten people who were injured in the explosion and shooting at Crimea's Kerch Polytechnic College remain in intensive care, Russian Healthcare Minister Veronika Skvortsova told reporters on Wednesday.

"Ten people remain in intensive care," Skvortsova said. Five of them are in a very serious condition, she added.

She added that local hospitals provided high-quality medical assistance to those injured in the shooting and explosion from the start. "This allowed us to save many lives," Skvortsova said.

Ten people who were injured in the shooting will be taken to Moscow hospitals for treatment, she noted. "Our task is try to evacuate all 10 patients to Moscow. We need to do it in the next 24 hours [after they sustained injuries]," Skvortsova said.

Serious injuries were sustained by several people in the explosion  because the exploding device was packed with multiple small parts, the minister added.

"Small metal parts are found in the muscles, in the soft tissue [of those injured]. These small parts are removed from liver, from intestines, from muscles," Skvortsova said.

She added that injuries sustained from the explosion were very serious. "All [injuries] are complex <...> The wounds are infected because small parts cause inflammation of tissue. The situation is very difficult," she noted.

A group of intensive care doctors will be assigned to each person in a serious condition, she added noting that five groups of doctors have arrived from the Krasnodar Area, and several more have come from Moscow. If the condition of those injured allows for it, they will be taken to the Vishnevsky National Research Center, Professor Roshal's Children's Hospital and other hospitals.

Skvortsova said that 12 more people with other serious injuries will be taken to Simferopol and Krasnodar. "We have two planes. One of them - Il-26 - has 25 medical modules and can simultaneously airlift 25 people. There are several girls aged 15-16 with parents. We don't mind if parents want to go with them. We also have another plane - that brought us here - and it can take several people as well," she added.

On Wednesday, a student opened fire and orchestrated an explosion at the Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea. He later committed suicide. According to the latest reports, 19 people died and around 50 were injured in the attack. The criminal case was initially opened over an act of terrorism, but was later reclassified as murder. A three-day mourning will start in Crimea on Thursday.