BEIJING - CHINA said on Wednesday one of the country's most famous dancers suffered serious spinal injuries after she fell during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Liu Yan, a rising star of traditional Chinese dance, plunged three metres off a moving platform during a practice session for the spectacular ceremony on July 27, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Official websites carried pictures of the stricken star in her hospital bed flanked by film director Zhang Yimou, the artistic director of last week's show, who described Liu as a national heroine.

Xinhua said the 26-year-old dancer underwent a seven-hour operation after breaking a vertebrae in the middle of her back, and that she had no feeling from her waist down.

The authorities have for several weeks thrown a veil of secrecy around the accident with officials insisting publicly the injuries sustained were not serious.

A source involved in producing the show said shortly after the accident that the dancer, who is married to a well-known director for state television, had been paralysed.

However neither the hospital treating her nor her dance company would confirm the information.

Mr Wang Wei, vice-chairman of the Beijing Olympic organising committee, declined to confirm or deny the dancer was paralysed.

'I think that she was seriously injured and I am not sure if she is paralysed or not,' he told reporters on Wednesday.

The grandiose opening ceremony at the 'Bird's Nest' stadium last Friday brought together over 15,000 performers and won plaudits around the world for its creativity and flawless execution.

The tightly choreographed show portrayed China's colourful history from ancient dynasties to 21st century power, and Liu's accident happened during practice for the segment entitled 'Silk Road'.

The ceremony has lost a little of its sheen in recent days after it was revealed that several key moments had been faked.

The organisers have admitted that a nine-year-old girl who sang a patriotic song had actually been lip-synching, and that the real singer was another little girl who was not deemed attractive enough to appear on stage.

It has also been revealed that supposedly live pictures of fireworks depicting footprints moving across Beijing were partly computer-generated or pre-recorded for TV. -- AFP