Elderly man has wrong leg amputated at Austrian clinic

Friestat Clinic apologises for tragic mistake' which local media said the patient did not initially recognise because of his illness

An Austrian hospital amputated the wrong leg of a patient, it said on Thursday, blaming human error for what it called a tragic mistake".

The elderly patient was suffering from many illnesses, the Freistadt Clinic, in a town of the same name near the Czech border, said in a statement. Previous sicknesses have affected his legs, to the point that his left leg required amputation.