PLA plane lands at Yongshu Jiao reef to help patients
Updated: 2016-04-18 09:59
(chinadaily.com.cn)
A navy patrol aircraft carried out a historic medical mission to transport three workers from Yongshu Reef, part of the Nansha Islands, on Sunday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
It's the first time that a Chinese military aircraft landed on the reef in the South China Sea. Earlier in January, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that China had completed an airfield on the reef, the country's southernmost airfield.
Li Wanmei, one of the three workers, was in a coma due to suspected digestive problems. One of the other two workers had a possible hip fracture and the other was believed to be suffering from appendicitis. All three were described as being in a serious condition.
Transporting the men by sea was ruled out because of the time factor and weather conditions. Wu Shengli, commander of the PLA Navy, and Miao Hua, political commissar of the PLA Navy, ordered the patrol aircraft, undertaking missions in the South China Sea, to transport the workers to the No 425 Hospital of the Navy in Sanya, Hainan province.