MANILA, Philippines – Shot in the head, 3-year-old Diana Uy is the most seriously wounded among the 5 rushed to a hospital after a shooting incident at the country’s main airport, hospital officials said.

A gunshot wound grazed Uy’s head while she was standing with a relative at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) arrival area, said Dr Roland Cortez, chief of the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.

Cortez said Uy and her relative, reportedly her aunt, had been waiting for their vehicle when the shooting happened.

Officials first brought Uy and 4 other victims to the Villamor air base hospital, then transferred them to the East Avenue Medical Center.

Dr Alfonso Nuñez, head of the hospital’s ER trauma department, said a blood clot formed in her head, requiring an operation before Friday ends. Uy’s mother is on the way to the hospital from Bacolod as of posting time.

A Zamboanga del Sur town mayor, his wife, and two others died in the NAIA Terminal 3 attack that triggered security concerns over the Philippines’ prime gateway. (READ: Mayor, wife shot dead at NAIA Terminal 3.)

Like Uy, 4 other injured women remain at the East Avenue Medical Center.

A relative of the slain mayor, 28-year-old Remayda Talumpa, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Cortez said a bullet entered below her nose and exited through her jaw.

Rosda Lindago, 26, was wounded after a bullet entered the left part of her chest, and exited through the right part.

The oldest among them, 58-year-old Amalia Lirazan, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Cortez said a bullet entered entered her chest and exited through her back. Her right forearm was hit. Her eye also seems to be bleeding, Cortez said.

Mom of slain kid, too

Marie Ann Lirazan, 28, suffered a gunshot wound in her left arm. She is now fractured. Her flesh cracked open and is now exposed.

Unlike the 4 other women, however, Lirazan wants to be discharged as soon as possible.

Cortez said the hospital will continue to give her “all the necessary medical interventions.”

“Kung talagang mapilit siya, na gustong lumabas, wala kaming magagawa, at siguro, magpapa-discharge siya against medical advice,” he said. (If she really insists to be discharged, we can’t do anything, and probably she will want herself discharged against medical advice.)

Lirazan’s own baby died in the NAIA attack. Her son, Phil Tomas, was only 18 months old. (READ: ‘I was late by 5 minutes.’)

Cortez said the families shouldn’t worry about the cost of hospital treatment.

Meanwhile, he said he wonders why the victims had to be brought to East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City from Villamor in Pasay City.

“From Villamor, kung titingnan ninyo, karaming ospital kaya ang dapat daanan bago makarating ng East Avenue. And that is my question to my trauma chief,” Cortez said. (From Villamor, if you will look at it closely, we’ll have to pass by so many hospitals before arriving at East Avenue. And that is my question to my trauma chief.)

Netizens, for their part, voiced concern on Friday over government neglect, particularly concerning the lack of CCTV cameras at NAIA-3. (READ: No cameras at NAIA3 for a long time.) – Rappler.com