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Amidst the frenzy that followed the train collision in Odisha's Balasore district on the evening of Friday, 2 June, locals poured in hundreds to aid in rescue operations.
Talking to The Quint, 21-year-old Deepak (name changed) from Bhadrak district, an engineering graduate, was with his friends when they heard of the accident at around 8 pm and rushed to help.
"We were just strolling when we heard about the accident over social media. So, four of us decided to just go there out of curiosity, and we knew that help would be needed," said Deepak.
Deepak reached the accident spot at around 10:30-11 pm in the night and what he saw terrified him.
"It was the most horrifying thing that one could see. There were dead bodies lying all around the spot. More than 400-450 people were dead. Many bodies were disfigured. There were limbs piled all around."Deepak
‘Locals Did What They Could To Help the Injured’
Locals say that the accident spot was visible from the highway and hence most of the people who saw it rushed to the spot or to nearby hospitals.
"Locals helped the injured, carried them on bikes/autos to the hospital before the administration intervened. It looked like a blood bath."
Deepak and his friends helped carry a few victims to the hospital and said that there were scores of people who had reached there to donate blood.
Locals in Balasore, including women and younger people, reached the hospital to tend to the victims. People were queuing up to donate blood and assist the victims in whatever way possible, Deepak told The Quint.
A local journalist, requesting anonymity, told The Quint that around 1,100 units of blood were donated throughout the night by locals at multiple hospitals.
"The local community really stepped in to help. By night itself, more than 1,100 units of blood were made available to the hospitals."
Local journalists claimed that people were trapped in at least two coaches which rammed into each other during the accident and that rescue efforts were on to cut through the bogies and evacuate people.
"The accident was so fatal that there were still around 150 people in two bogies which rammed into each other trapping the people inside the coaches in the morning."
Hospitals Flooded With Injured People, Bodies Lined on the Floor
Officials have put the death toll at 288 and said that around 900 people have been injured in the accident.
Deepak, who stayed till early morning outside Soro hospital in Balasore waiting for his turn to donate blood, said that there were so many injured people that they were lying on the floors with saline and medication.
"We were waiting in line to donate blood when I broke from the queue and went inside the hospital helping another injured. The hospital floor was filled with people being treated. There were also dead bodies piled in a room," he added.
Eyewitnesses said that people were still in queues in the morning to donate blood. Speaking to a media outlet, Odisha's Chief Secretary Pradeep Jena said that locals have been continuously helping the rescue teams.
"People are coming voluntarily to donate blood. I am getting requests from many places, so it is a good sign. Since the accident, a lot of local people have been assisting our rescue professionals."
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