Second conjoined twin out of coma after separation

Krishna had been in an induced coma since this week's operation

The second of two conjoined twins who doctors separated in Australia has woken from an induced coma.

The child, Krishna, suffered complications during the operation to separate her from her twin, Trishna, for which both were heavily sedated.

The sisters, who turn three next month, are expected to make a full recovery.

They had been brought to Melbourne from Bangladesh in 2007 for the operation. Born joined at the head, they had shared brain tissue and blood vessels.

The sisters now face a long recovery, and further tests will be carried out as they grow stronger, doctors said.

Risky process

The twin's emergence from their induced comas has been momentous both for their guardians and the team of specialists at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, says the BBC's Phil Mercer in Australia.

Surgeons divided the twins' skulls in an extremely risky process on Thursday that took two years to plan.

The operation to separate their heads took 25 hours and was followed by six hours of reconstructive surgery.

There were grave fears that one or both of the girls would suffer neurological damage in the process.

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Trishna, who woke shortly after the operation, has already been taken out of the intensive care unit and is said to be talking and behaving normally.

Krishna will require a longer period of recuperation, doctors said, because the surgeons had to make more changes to her body and blood circulation.

But her long-term prognosis was still "really really good", they added.

Jubilant mother

The twins had been rescued in 2007 from an orphanage in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, where doctors said they were unable to treat them as their condition got worse.

Trishna and Krishna were taken to Australia in 2007

They were flown to Australia by a Melbourne-based charity, Children First Foundation.

The twins' mother was said to be overjoyed at the news of their separation. She said they would have a better upbringing in Australia.

"My babies are alive and doing well," a tearful Lovely Mollick told the Associated Press in an interview from her home south-west of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. "It's the best news I've ever got in my life.

"I am from a poor family and am not able to take care of them... I want them to get a proper education and live a good life."

(Edit:Ruby)