Patient attacked at Taranto hospital

(recasts after brain death procedure stopped) (ANSA) - Taranto, August 9 - A 74-year-old woman was brutally attacked at Taranto's Santissima Annunziata hospital by a man who then fled the scene late on Wednesday. The woman was attacked while she was on a hospital bed waiting for treatment in the emergency room late on Tuesday. She was initially declared brain dead but the protocol to follow in such cases was suspended after slight activity was detected. Her condition is desperate though, according to reports.
    Police are looking for a man aged around 40 with long, curly hair. Investigators have not yet established whether the killer knew the woman or is mentally ill.