Conjoined Twins Operation 'Successful'

Trishna and Krishna were taken to Australia when they were very young

A 25-hour operation to separate conjoined twins has been successful, say doctors in Australia.

Bangladeshi twins Trishna and Krishna, who are nearly three years old, were joined at the top of the head.

A 16-strong team began the delicate operation separating the girls' brain tissue at 2300GMT on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Chief of Surgery Leo Donnan said both girls are "doing well" following the surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

He said the next step for the pair was reconstructive surgery, the Associated Press news agency reported.

This is expected to last many hours.

Survival rates

Earlier anaesthetist Dr Ian McKenzie told AP the condition of the girls was improving as their bodies began to work more individually.

The girls were close to death when they arrived in Australia two years ago and they have already had several preparatory operations.

They were flown over by the Children First Foundation, because of the poor survival rates after similar operations in Bangladesh.

Doctors had earlier said there a 25% chance one of the sisters could die, and a 50% chance of the girls suffering brain damage.