The public in Cameroon has been called upon by officials to donate blood to assist with treatment f 600 people wounded in Friday’s train crash.
The death toll from the crash rose to 80 after eleven more bodies were recovered on Sunday.
France’s ambassador in the country was one high-profile donor who donated blood and urged others to follow suit.
The passenger train was travelling from Yaounde, the capital, to the port city of Douala when carriages flipped over at high speed.
President Paul Biya told state TV that victims’ [medical] costs would be paid for by the state.
He said an “in-depth inquiry” into the causes of the accident had been ordered.
Even as a day or mourning is being observed in the country with flags flying half-mast, efforts continue at the central hospital of Yaoundé to identify some of the dead. The wounded are being treated in hospitals in Yaounde and Douala, the two main cities in the country.
To cope with the emergency, at least 20,000 sachets of blood are needed, which officials hope to secure through the appeal.
“This is unprecedented and it came suddenly. Treating the wounded involves a considerable number of physicians,” Tetani Ekwe, vice-chairman of the National Order of Physicians, told the BBC.
“We can’t afford to pay for the blood we need, so citizens have to donate their blood,” Mr Ekwe added.
All medical professionals have been called to go and offer their help at the hospitals where the wounded have been taken.
