Coming home - Four more burn victims to be airlifted as Lombardy medics assess condition of Italian nationals

"Welfare Councillor for Italy's Lombardy region, Guido Bertolaso, said a Niguarda Hospital's team of burn specialists had obtained medical records of Italian nationals admitted to various medical facilities Switzerland and determined which victims were 'fit to fly' home. "Today, we should succeed in transferring to our hospital four of the young people who are injured and admitted to Swiss hospitals," Bertolaso said outside Niguarda Hospital in Milan on Friday. "This allowed us to determine which patients were - as we say in the jargon - fit to fly, those who can be transported by helicopter and also identify those who, at the moment, due to the serious conditions they are in, cannot be transported to Milan," he explained. Bertolaso announced that those to be transferred are four 15-year-olds admitted to hospitals in Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. "As soon as weather conditions permit, he will certainly arrive here," he reported. Bertolaso added the remaining six victims in Bern and Zurich are not yet 'transportable' due to their physical condition and are either already admitted to hospitals in Zurich or are currently being taken there by ambulance. "We are monitoring them. If they give us the green light that they have become transportable today or in the next few days, we will obviously bring them all home as soon as possible," he announced. On Thursday, Italian authorities successfully airlifted three of their nationals to specialist burns units at Niguarda Hospital in Milan after they suffered severe injuries. They were identified as a woman, nearly 30 years old, and two 15-year-old boys. Italy has also reported that 16 Italian citizens remain missing after a New Year’s Eve fire at a bar in the Swiss Alps killed at least 40 people and injured another 119, including French and Italian nationals."