NDRF personnel ‘rescuing’ an injured passenger from a coach of a train that was involved in an accident during a rescue drill at Koodal Nagar railway station in Madurai on Friday.
| Photo Credit: G. Moorthy
The state of preparedness in rescue, relief and restoration was tested through a drill on a train accident conducted by Southern Railway, along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), here on Friday.
In a simulated scenario, two coaches of a train bound to Tambaram derailed at Koodal Nagar railway station in the morning, following which a siren was blown at the Divisional Railway Manager’s office to alert officials and employees of all departments.
The first responders, the locopilot, assistant locopilot, train manager and the travelling ticket examiners got into rescuing the passengers from the derailed general coach and an air-conditioned coach. Overhead power line was switched off as a precautionary measure.
Before that the assistant locopilot and the train manager ran in both directions along the track to alert oncoming trains to the accident.
Even as the injured were pulled out one by one, local police, firemen and ambulances rushed to the spot to speed up the rescue operation.
The railway moved its self-propelled accident relief train to the spot. While the railway men tried to break open the coaches, NDRF personnel joined them with all their equipment to cut open the window rails and managed to enter the coaches.
Since the one side of the general coach had climbed over the other derailed coach, NDRF personnel had to use a ladder and ropes to rescue the injured persons.
A medical team from St. John’s Ambulance conducted the triage at the spot and the seriously injured were rushed to different hospitals.
Simultaneously, the Scouts and Guides helped the officials put up shamianas and helped the medical teams. Both the NDRF and Railway Signal and Telecommunication Department set up their satellite communication units at the accident site.
Madurai Collector M.S. Sangeetha and Divisional Railway Manager Sharad Srivastava oversaw the rescue and relief operation.
Meanwhile, a 140-tonne crane, Pandyan, reached the spot to lift the coaches and rerail them.
Later, Principal Chief Safety Officer (Southern Railway) Ganesh, who observed the entire drill, conducted a post-operation de-briefing with officials of all departments, discussing certain gaps in response to the accident.
Published – February 07, 2025 08:56 pm IST