The Odisha Government on Monday claimed to have saved more than 1200 human lives and also patted the local people who were the first responders to the horrific rail disaster on Friday.
“It was certainly the outcome of excellent team work involving right from the local residents of Bahanaga to the state machinery, National Disaster Response Force and army personnel,” said Satyabrata Sahu, Special Relief Commission, on Monday while briefing reporters here.
“But the local people who donned the mantle of Good Samaritans in rushing to spot, rescuing the trapped survivors, shifting them to hospitals and voluntarily donating blood, deserved special kudos,” added Sahu.
The local people displayed exemplary humanitarian enterprise. Otherwise, the toll would have crossed the four-digit mark, Sahu said.
With rescue operations over, the focus is now on to extend the best possible treatment, identification of bodies and transporting the bodies at government’s cost to the respective destination.
“People from across the country can call the two toll-free numbers 1800-3450061/1929 to get necessary information about the deceased and injured persons undergoing treatment at hospitals in the state,” Chief Secretary PK Jena told reporters earlier today.
Those admitted in the hospitals are more or less stable with only around a dozen of patients having been shifted to the Intensive Care Units (ICUs). It is heartening to note that there is no shortage of blood for transfusion to critically injured persons as people have voluntarily donated blood, he added.