Jawan, who was on leave, alerted NDRF about Odisha train crash

N K Venkatesh, a jawan with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), was probably the first to alert officials about the train accident involving three trains in Odisha’s Balasore. He was a passenger on the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, travelling to Chennai on leave.

A native of Thanjavur district in the Cauvery Delta region, Venkatesh (39), was among the 137 passengers of the ill-fated train that reached the Chennai Central Station in the wee hours of Sunday via special train. The jawan -- who was with NDRF’s second battalion in Kolkata -- called his subedar major at around 7 pm on Friday, immediately after he realised the magnitude of the train accident.

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“The subedar major informed the Commandant of a NDRF battalion in Odisha which reached the spot in no time,” Venkatesh said on his arrival. Even before the NDRF came to the spot, locals sourced whatever material they had to rescue the injured and those crying for help.

“I saw people bringing water in buckets to the tracks. They sprinkled water on the eyes of several people to make them conscious. Local people could reach the tracks immediately as the accident spot was near a main road. It was the locals who came first followed by police, fire service personnel and NDRF, who travelled about 40 km,” the jawan addded.

The NDRF team reached within an hour of the accident after Venkatesh shared his live location via WhatsApp.

Venkatesan, who was travelling in B7 - an AC three-tier coach - to his native town, said the train was running on time and stopped at Balasore at around 6.30 pm. “Within 20 minutes of leaving Balasore station, there was something unusual. We saw a goods train and since we were sitting in an AC compartment, we didn’t then know whether it was moving or stationary. Within second, we heard a loud noise and people started falling from their seats. But our coach didn’t derail from the track,” the NDRF jawan added.

After a few minutes, Venkatesh deboarded the train and helped elders to get off the vehicle only to see the tragedy unfold. “Almost all coaches from unreserved to B6 had derailed. And we could hear people seeking help. I left the train with my baggage, crossed the road and informed the people about the accident. By then, several locals had reached with help and then I too joined NDRF in the operations for some time,” the jawan said.