BENGALURU: 15 train passengers were rescued from a derailed coach that caught fire later, and another capsized coach at Nelamangala railway station, 29 kms from Bengaluru, on Wednesday. The accident was a part of the annual mock drill, carried out by the Railway division to prepare employees and other staff for disaster management.
The drill took place between 10.08 am and 12.30 pm in the yard area, with 200 railway employees, local police, National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire and Health department staff taking part in the exercise.
Umesh Naik, Assistant Commercial Manager, told TNIE that the drill involved an accident to a Train numbered 06207 moving from KSR Bengaluru towards Nelamangala.
“One coach derails while the other coach coupled with it capsizes. The derailment occurred at 10.08 am. The siren used to alert in case of accidents alerted us immediately. The Accident Relief Train (ART) reached the spot from KSR Bengaluru City station by 10.20 am and then sprung into action,” he said.
A crane weighing 140 tonnes was rushed to the spot to facilitate the operation, he added.
V Seenappa, Senior Section Engineer and in-charge of ART said, “The doors in both the coaches had got jammed due to the impact. So, we had to explore other alternatives to rescue the passengers (enacted by rail staff) .”
Sharing details, he said, “we managed to rescue all the 15 passengers trapped inside. From the train which derailed, we had to cut open the roof at two pieces as well as one window using hydraulic rescue devices and brought out five trapped passengers."
Later, a scenario in which this coach catches fire due to an inflammable substance brought on board by a passenger too was depicted and from this mishap we rescued five more passengers before the flames could reach them.”
Simultaneously from the capsized coach, cut open the roof and rescued five passengers. “They were given first aid by the medical personnel around and taken to the local government hospital and private hospitals.”
The previous such drill was enacted by the Division in November 2023.