BANGLADESHI TWINS
Separated at last

MELBOURNE - Australian doctors successfully separated twin Bangladeshi girls after more than 24 hours of surgery yesterday, saying the two were "in great shape" but faced a difficult recovery.

Two-year-old Trishna and Krishna - who were joined at their heads, sharing blood vessels and brain tissue - were placed in induced comas after leaving the operating theatre unattached for the first time.

"The moment of separation was a rather surreal moment," Dr Leo Donnan, chief of surgery at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, told reporters. "There was relief but I think everyone realised there was still a long way to go and that the girls have a very difficult time ahead of them."

Doctors worked through the night to prise apart the twins' brain tissue before reconstruction experts closed up their heads using bone and skin tissue.

"Everything's gone very well. They're in great shape which is fantastic ... they're both in good condition and healthy. I think they're better than we thought they'd be," Dr Donnan said. The girls will spend the next few days sedated, on ventilators and under close monitoring before being gradually woken up.

"They've got a long process to go through and it will be many days before we know how well it's gone," he said. "There's still considerable risks they've got to face ... there are many unknowns after this sort of surgery."

Before the surgery, doctors had said there was a 50-per-cent chance the girls could suffer brain damage and a 25-per-cent chance one of the sisters would die.

Some 16 specialists worked through the night, taking occasional food and rest breaks and listening to pop music in the operating theatre to stay alert, as the operation went beyond its scheduled midnight finish.

The girls were found in an orphanage in Bangladesh in 2007 by a representative from the Children First Foundation, who brought them to Australia. Agencies