More than 1,800 people went to Hong Kong Red Cross blood-donation centers on Sunday, a day after a tragic bus crash in Tai Po in the New Territories caused the deaths of 19 people and left 66 others injured.
The Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) said 1,839 people registered to make blood donations and 1,112 bags of blood were collected on Sunday.
Long queues were seen at the donation centers, with some people having to wait three or four hours to give blood. Additional staff were deployed to the centers.
Lee Cheuk-kwong, chief executive and medical director of the HKRC’s Blood Transfusion Service, said he appreciated the patience of all the donors who had to queue up and wait hours to donate blood, Headline Daily reported.
A total of 70 bags of blood were sent to the hospitals after the bus crash, Lee said, adding that the public response meant the demand for blood for the accident victims had been met.
However, as blood inventories had already been low over the past month and currently are only enough to last three to four days, Lee encouraged more people to donate, especially those with A and O blood types, in the coming days and during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays.
People in good health aged between 16 and 66 and weighing 41 kilograms or above are qualified to donate blood.
Organ needed A+, B+, O+, blood group whats app: +919205402152