Odisha Train Tragedy: People queue up to donate blood for injured at Balasore hospital

After the tragic train accident in Balasore, people have queued up at a hospital in the area to donate blood for the injured. Balasore district hospital looked like a war zone with the injured lying on stretchers in the corridor and rooms bursting at their seams with extra beds propped up. Harried medical staff were seen trying to bring succour to patients many of whom are from states other than Odisha and had difficulties in communicating. In all some 526 railway accident victims have been admitted to this one single hospital.

Thousands volunteer to help the accident victims and the injured

Policemen and locals have been volunteering to donate blood at this and many hospitals through the night, said officials. More than 2,000 people gathered at the Balasore Medical College and Hospital in the night to help the injured, and many also donated blood.

Chief Secretary Jena thanked the volunteers who donated blood to the accident victims in their hour of need. "Five hundred units of blood collected overnight here at Balasore. Nine hundred units in stock at present. This will help in treating the accident victims. I'm personally indebted & grateful to all the volunteers who've donated blood for a noble cause," Jena tweeted.

Details of the accident

Several coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed near Bahanaga station in Odisha's Balasore after hitting a goods train. According to Railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma, the accident took place around 7 pm on Friday.

"Around 7 pm, 10-12 coaches of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express derailed near Baleswar and fell on the opposite track. After some time, another train from Yeswanthpur to Howrah dashed into those derailed coaches resulting in the derailment of its 3-4 coaches," Sharma told ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)