Such was the ferocity of the triple train crash and so severe the strain on local resources in Odisha that many passengers with broken hips and limbs had to be brought to hospitals in neighbouring Bengal.
A senior official of the Bengal health department said over 75 patients were admitted to various hospitals in the state.
More than 60 of them were admitted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, about two-and-a-half hours’ drive from the accident site near Bahanga Bazaar station in Odisha.
Doctors and health officials said those who were brought to the hospitals here had fractures in their hands, legs, hips, chest and abrasions.
“A number of the injured have cuts, injuries and fractures in their limbs and hips,” said Jayanta Rout, medical superintendent and vice-principal of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.
A team of doctors from Bengal reached the accident site a little after midnight on Saturday. They joined hands with doctors at a hospital near the site, identified the patients from Bengal and organised the transfer of those who were willing to come to the state. The doctors administered first-aid before putting them in ambulances.
“There were passengers on the floor, beds were being shared by more than one patient. But the doctors and the administration in Odisha managed things very well. There were injured passengers coming in almost every minute,” said Mohammed Atique Hussain, a doctor at the surgery department of the Midnapore hospital.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who reached the site on Saturday afternoon, said her government sent doctors, nurses and fire brigade personnel to the neighbouring state.
A state health department official said given the scale of the accident and the huge number of people who needed medical care, the additional human resource, ambulances and emergency medicines helped. “We sent 24 ambulances on Friday night, within hours of the accident. The rest were sent on Saturday. A total of 70 ambulances were sent,” said the official.
An additional district magistrate was also present in Balasore to coordinate the rescue and shift of injured persons who were from Bengal.
Four injured persons were admitted to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. Three of them were treated and discharged. The fourth, who suffered injuries to his chest, is undergoing treatment.
A man with injuries in his ribs was admitted to NRS Medical College and Hospital. “His condition is stable but he is not in position to speak,” said a hospital official.
“We have asked Midnapore medical college, Debra Superspeciality Hospital, Belda Superspeciality Hospital, Kharagpur Hospital and SSKM Hospital to be ready to admit patients injured in the train accident,” said the health department official.
The Bengal government also sent 10 large buses to ferry passengers who had minor injuries.