16,000 cops donate blood in India to overcome crisis

More than 16,000 policemen in West Bengal have donated blood in the past one week to alleviate blood crisis in the eastern Indian state, local media reported Sunday.

"Some 16,000 police personnel have donated blood. There will be nearly 50,000 bottles by June 10," West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was quoted as saying in state capital Kolkata Saturday.

The Chief Minister has said that her ruling Trinmool Congress party workers and other government employees in the state will also donate blood to overcome the crisis.

India is reportedly facing a blood shortage of three million units, despite being a country of 1.25 billion people. And West Bengal is among some Indian states that faced severe blood crisis.

The crisis is mainly due to the fact that there is a shortage of volunteers as well as stored blood expiring after some time, experts say.