Utkal Express derailment: Red Cross sends 100 units of blood for injured

New Delhi: The Indian Red Cross Society has sent 100 units of blood to the Meerut Medical College Hospital where most of the injured in Saturday’s Utkal Express derailment near Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh are being treated. Dr. Vanshree Singh, director of the Red Cross blood bank said that they approached the the medical college and the latter told them about the requirement of blood and requested its urgent supply. [caption id=“attachment_3953519” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Utkal Express train accident. PTI[/caption] “Initially, 100 units of blood have been released,” Singh said. She said that additional staff has been put to work, so that around 300 units of blood, which has been collected from donation camps on Sunday, is tested and kept ready, in case more blood is required at the hospital. Fourteen coaches of the high-speed Utkal Express last evening jumped the rails, with one of them crashing into a house adjacent to the track near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district, leaving 22 people dead and and over 150 injured, 26 of them grievously, officials said. Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu has assured he is personally monitoring the situation and has ordered an inquiry into the train accident.