Doctors were able to reconnect in an early Wednesday morning surgery the arm of the 24-year-old woman, who fell on the tracks of the Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) on Tuesday afternoon.

According to Cesar Chavez, the transport undersecretary for rails, Angeline Fernando would still be under observation until Friday following the operation reconnecting her right arm, which was cut off after she fell on the gap of the second and third train cars at the northbound platform of the Ayala station.

Chavez said that Fernando’s parents told him that prior to the accident, their only daughter has a history of getting dizzy, especially when she is around a large crowd.

“Whenever we go to church, she often gets out because she has hard time breathing when she’s with a lot of people,” Chavez quoted Fernando’s mother Gloria as saying.

The transport official added that he learned that Fernando was previously brought by a friend to Makati Medical Center due to hypotension (low blood pressure).

At that time, Fernando and her friends were just strolling in a Makati City mall.

Earlier, Chavez said that the MRT-3 would shoulder Fernando’s hospital bills.

On Wednesday, Chavez said that they will also request financial assistance from other government agencies for Fernando, who is the family’s breadwinner.

Meanwhile, Chavez said that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) will also look into the response of the MRT-3 management during the incident, especially that a woman who was at the scene criticised on Facebook the staff’s supposed lack of preparedness to respond to emergencies.

Celia Castillo said that “good thing one woman was courageous enough to tend to [Fernando].”

“She was asking for a cloth to use [on Fernando]. I gave my cardigan. She tied it on [Fernando’s] upper arm to hopefully stop the bleeding. And I had to tell the guards, please get a medic, call an ambulance. Lahat natataranta (Everyone was panicking). No staff had the courage to take the arm from the rails. Please MRT management equip your people for this kind of situation,” Castillo said in her post that has been shared by over 10,000 users.

Chavez pointed out that the MRT staff, especially the safety and security unit, are trained to respond to emergencies.

He noted though that while “at the time of the incident, there was no MRT staff in the platform” there were two security guards who assisted Fernando.

Management of a conservation park in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java, have reported a man and woman to the police for giving a hippopotamus and a deer an alcoholic drink, as shown in a video that went viral.

“We reported the two perpetrators to Cisarua Police this morning. Their actions endangered our animals and breached animal welfare norms. Hence, we decided to take the case to the police,” Taman Safari Indonesia’s spokesman Yulius Suprihardo told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Yulius added that the park’s veterinary team was currently examining the animals to determine whether the alcohol had affected their health.

Yulius thanked Instagram users for reporting the issue to Taman Safari Indonesia.

“Thank you for your concern and support for our animals’ welfare.”

Animal welfare activists lambasted a man and woman known on Instagram as @philipbiondi and @alyccaaa for giving a hippopotamus and a deer red wine at Taman Safari Indonesia.

The actions were recorded and uploaded by the woman on her Instagram story before the videos went viral.

Sri Haryati, a beggar who was recently in the spotlight for carrying gold and Rp 23 million (US$1,696) in cash, claimed that she had only begged for four days, and that most of the money was from previous work.

Untung Triono, an official from the Bina Insan Bangun Daya social home in West Jakarta, which temporarily houses Sri, said on Wednesday that during an interrogation the woman claimed that most of the money was her savings from her previous job as a domestic helper.

“She claimed that she became a beggar for only four days, during which she earned around Rp 3 million. She said she had become a beggar while waiting to find a job,” Untung told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Miftahul Huda, spokesperson of the Jakarta Social Agency, previously said that Sri had been a beggar for around five months, operating in many areas across the capital before being apprehended on a pedestrian bridge on Jl. Kramat Sentiong in Central Jakarta during an operation on Sunday.

City Bylaw No. 8/2007 on public order stipulates that panhandling is not allowed in the capital. Both beggars and donors are subject to penalty.

“I didn’t have any intention to become a beggar. I did it while waiting to get a job as a helper. However, it turned out to be enjoyable; there were people who donated their food and in just four days, I could get millions of rupiah,” she told tribunnews.com, adding that she began working as a helper in 1991.

Sri is a resident of Karanganyar in Surakarta, Central Java. She said that she planned to return home after finishing her period at the social home.

Every apprehended beggar is required to sign a pledge not to beg on the street again.

SEOUL – A North Korean soldier who suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash over the border to South Korea this week stabilised on Wednesday after a second round of surgery, a doctor treating him said.

The soldier, whose rank and identity have not been disclosed, was flown by helicopter to hospital on Monday after his escape to South Korea in a hail of bullets fired by North Korean soldiers.

Wednesday’s surgery was “successful” in terms of staunching bleeding and the soldier had “stabilised much”, said Lee Cook-jong, the surgeon in charge of his treatment.

However, he remained unconscious and was not out of the woods, as complications from a severe hip fracture and possible infection remained major concerns, Lee said.

“We will be able to tell you after about 10 days,” Lee told reporters at a briefing, when asked about the soldier’s chances of surviving.

On Tuesday, government and military officials said the soldier was in critical condition but doctors expected him to live.

The soldier made his escape in a border “peace village” on the heavily guarded demilitarised zone between the two Koreas.

At first, he sped towards the border in a four-wheel drive vehicle but was forced to abandon it and flee on foot when one of its wheels came loose, South Korean officials said earlier.

He was hit by about seven bullets before he took cover behind a South Korean structure in a Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the demilitarised zone.

Doctors removed five bullets from him earlier and one more on Wednesday.

North Korea has remained silent on the issue, while no unusual activity has been detected at the border where the soldier defected, the South’s Unification Ministry said.

“There will need to be some questioning on why he defected after his treatment is over,” ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.

Monday was the first time since 2007 a North Korean soldier had defected across the JSA.