A 13-year-old boy from Xiajin county, Shandong Province, who suffered appalling injuries after two men pushed a high-pressure air hose into his rectum, was transferred to a Beijing hospital Thursday for further treatment as doctors say his injuries are not life threatening.

Du Chuanwang, a teenage apprentice at a local car repair shop, was pushed to the ground by two maintenance workers at the shop on June 30, Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported.

Releasing compressed air into his body caused the boy's belly to bulge like a balloon, according to the newspaper.

Du was in a coma for eight days following a six-hour emergency surgery. He regained consciousness on July 9, said Ai Qingze, deputy director of a local hospital in Shandong.

The two maintenance workers have been arrested, Shi Chuanbin, chief of the publicity department of the local public security bureau, told the Global Times.

"They claimed they were just playing a joke on the boy," said Shi.

The boy is in the intensive care unit at Beijing Bayi Children's Hospital, where he arrived Thursday afternoon.

"The boy's intestinal tract has all kinds of wounds," said Zhang Lei, a doctor with Beijing Emergency Medical Center, who accompanied Du in the ambulance to Beijing.

Zhang told the Global Times that Du is in stable condition, but his intestines, lungs and nose are battling a serious bacterial infection. Du's nose and eardrums also suffered serious injury.

"We may arrange plastic surgery for him later because his nose is broken, and he may have scars on his face," said Zhang, adding that a diagnosis is expected in a few days.

"The boy has not had any food or drink, nor spoken since the attack," Zhang added. "We can only communicate through eye contact, but he was a little excited during the trip to Beijing."

The boy's 38-year-old father Du Shehou remained disconsolate as he sat outside the hospital with his palms in his hands.

"I haven't had any sleep since the attack. I'm still in a daze," the father told the Global Times on Thursday.

The boy's uncle told the Global Times he couldn't understand how someone could harm a child in such a gruesome manner. "My nephew is a well-behaved child."

Yang Bin, a medical expert who also accompanied the boy to Beijing, told the Global Times that Du's mother died in 2006. The boy dropped out of school and went to work to support his seven-year-old younger brother.

Du's family earned just 5,000 yuan ($784.5) a year by cultivating a small patch of land, Nanfang Daily reported.

Xu Man, manager of the Angel Mother Foundation, told the Global Times the foundation has raised 390,000 yuan for the boy since Wednesday afternoon.