In a major development in the horrific collision of three trains in Odisha’s Balasore, it has been learned that an NDRF jawan who was traveling in the Coromandel Express may have been the first to inform the emergency services of the train accident in Odisha’s Balasore. Was a person Involvement in initial rescue efforts.
On Friday, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express crossed the wrong track and collided with a standing goods train.
Its coaches were scattered all over the train, including a track next to it, and another passenger train, the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, which was traveling at high speed, hit them and derailed .
At least 288 people have been killed and 1,100 injured in the north in India’s worst train accident in nearly thirty years.
Venkatesh NK, a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) jawan, was on leave and was traveling from Howrah in West Bengal to Tamil Nadu.
Despite the derailment, officials said that his coach, B-7, had not collided with other coaches earlier, allowing him a narrow escape.
His seat number was 58 in the Third AC coach.
The 39-year-old, who was posted to the 2nd battalion of the NDRF in Kolkata, initially approached the senior inspector of the battalion to inform him about the accident.
The “live location” of the site which he sent to the NDRF control room via WhatsApp was, according to him, first used by rescue teams to reach the spot.
Venkatesh told PTI-language, “I felt a strong shock and then I saw some passengers falling in my coach. I took out the first passenger and made him sit in a shop near the railway track. The train that was taking him to Chennai.
He said the local people, including the owner of a medical shop, were “real saviors” as they extended all possible help to the victims.
Two passenger trains carrying around 2,300 people collided near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.
“Jawan Venkatesh was traveling in the Coromandel Express as he was going on leave to his home in Tamil Nadu.
As soon as the accident happened, he called his seniors in Kolkata. That phone call was probably the first one which alerted the NDRF which in turn informed the local administration as well.”
The jawan, who hailed from the Border Security Force (BSF) and joined the NDRF in 2021, claimed that he used the flashlight of his mobile phone to locate and rescue injured and stranded passengers.
Locals used their phones and flashlights to assist the passengers until rescue teams arrived, even though it was pitch dark.
According to Delhi’s NDRF DIG Mohsin Shahidi, “The NDRF jawan is always on duty, whether in uniform or not.”
The official said the NDRF rescuer had done everything they could to save lives in the “golden hour” until the first rescue team from the NDRF and Odisha state reached the accident site, which took place around 7 pm on Friday.
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