Balasore hospitals crumble under a deluge of patients

BALASORE: The first prone bodies began to arrive at Balasore district hospital by 10pm on Friday. But within a few hours, it became clear to health officials manning the gates of hospitals big and small - from primary health centres to district headquarters - the deluge of the injured, or of the dead, was of a magnitude Odisha had not seen before.

- Debabrata Mohanty

Dr Mrutunjay Mishra, additional district medical officer (ADMO), Balasore district headquarters hospital, said, "I have been in the profession for many decades. But I have never seen such chaos in my life. Almost all together, 251 accident victims were rushed to our hospital, and to be honest, we were not prepared. But our staff worked through the night and provided medical aid to all." 

At 7pm on Friday night, the Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train at Bahanaga Bazar railway station. With several compartments derailing onto an adjacent track, they were then hit by the Bengaluru Howrah Superfast Express train on the parallel line, in what is India's biggest train accident in 28 years that has left 294 dead and 1,110 injured at last count. For medical institutions in rural Odisha that dealt with the aftermath of the accident, this meant dealing with a scale of tragedy they had never seen before.