Survivor of deadly R.I. fire gets new hand

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BOSTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A man severely injured almost a decade ago in a deadly Rhode Island nightclub fire has received a hand transplant, a Massachusetts hospital says.

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said Joseph Kinan, 43, of Lakeville, Mass., underwent a lengthy procedure that began late Sunday and continued into Monday morning, The Providence (R.I.) Journal reported. Kinan was the first patient in the hospital's new hand transplant program to have a successful operation.

Kinan's doctors are "cautiously optimistic" he will be able to use the new hand, the hospital said in a statement.

The Feb. 20, 2003, fire at The Station, a club in West Warwick, was the worst in Rhode Island history, killing 100 people and injuring hundreds more. The fire was started by a pyrotechnic display in the performance of the band Great White.