RIYADH: Medical experts from the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program initiated the intricate separation process for 18-month-old Tanzanian twin girls, Nancy and Nice, on Thursday.

The surgery is being conducted at King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital in Riyadh.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, advisor to the royal court and head of the SCTP team, explained that a thorough examination was conducted upon the twins' arrival in late January.

They are conjoined at the lower chest, abdominal, and pelvic areas, sharing one liver, large intestine, anus, urinary, and reproductive systems, as well as malformed external genitalia.

Each girl has one leg, with a deformed third limb shared between them.

The separation procedure, involving 35 consultants, specialists, and support staff, will be carried out in 10 stages over approximately 16 hours.

Al-Rabeeah emphasized that while the operation is delicate, it holds a 60 percent success rate.

This marks the third pair of conjoined twins from Tanzania to undergo separation by the SCTP since its inception in 1990 and the 71st case globally.

The team has reviewed a total of 157 cases across 28 countries on five continents.

Most recently, Filipino conjoined twins Klea and Maurice Ann were successfully separated following an over-18-hour surgery.