At Balasore General Hospital, the wards are full of wounded, many of them on the floor and in the corridors.
Some have described it as a war zone in the aftermath of India’s worst rail tragedy in over two decadeswith more than 300 confirmed dead and some 900 injured.
Doctors were overwhelmed by a relentless stream of patients, many with serious injuries.
One of the volunteers who rushed here to help described blood all over the floors as the hospital tried to cope with the number of casualties.
It’s a small town in a poor part of West Bengal, suddenly on the front line of the worst train crash of this century.
I met Gura, 24, with his legs, arms and head heavily bandaged.
He was among the many in the halls in shock and in great pain.
He described the sudden moment he felt a huge jolt as two trains collided.
“We were standing by the gates,” he said.
“Both cars ran over us. There were four of us. I felt strangled when I was thrown out of the car and got out.
“I was injured in the head, arms and legs. It hurts.”
Nani Gopal Bari, 38, one of hundreds injured
Narendra Modi visited the hospital
Some from this hospital were taken to four o’clock for more specialized treatment.
But many did not make it out alive.
Their families are now trying to make the journey here to recover their bodies, traveling for many hours – most of them by train.
Narendra Modi also visited the hospital. It was due to launch new high-speed trains yesterday. Instead, he was visiting a scene with an unusually high death toll, even for a country with a long string of fatalities.
A drone shot of rescuers working at the site
The cause of this is not yet established, but early indications suggest a possible signaling defect.
