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Karnataka: Volleyball team stranded in Bengal after train mishap, flies back to city
The team took part in a volleyball tournament in West Bengal’s Chandannagar from May 27 to June 1 and was supposed to return to Karnataka on June 2
The 14 women and 18 men, including coaches of the under 16 volleyball team from Karnataka who were stranded in Kolkata following the train crash in Balasore district of Odisha, flew back to Bengaluru on Sunday morning, officials said.
“By god’s grace we didn’t board the train that crashed,” volleyball team coach Mamatha Shetty said.
The team took part in a volleyball tournament in West Bengal’s Chandannagar from May 27 to June 1 and was supposed to return to Karnataka on June 2. However, they didn’t board the train at the last minute as the ticket was not confirmed for some of the players.
“We were coming to Bengaluru after the championship in West Bengal. But tickets of some of the players in the girls’ team were not confirmed. We decided that the two teams should go on the same train, and we didn’t travel in the Coromandel express. Fortunately, we all survived,” Shetty told reporters after reaching the Kempegowda airport in Bengaluru.
The state government on Saturday dispatched a five-member team under labour minister Santosh Lad to help bring back Kannadigas who were stranded in Odisha and West Bengal following the train accident. Chief minister Siddaramaiah had also spoken to the stranded team members and promised to help them.
Meanwhile, all the 110 passengers from Karnataka aboard the Howrah superfast express emerged unharmed in the accident on Friday. The survivors, mostly pilgrims from Kalasa in Chikkamagaluru, were on their way to Sammed Shikharji in Jharkhand when the incident took place.
Labour minister Santosh Lad, who is in Odisha to take a stock of the situation, said on Sunday that all the Kannadigas are safe. “We visited all the hospitals in Odisha. There is no report of Kannadigas facing any problem.”
Passengers stranded at Baiyappanahalli railway station
After chief minister Siddaramaiah’s directives to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and labor department, officials on Sunday provided facilities to around 1,500 stranded passengers at the Baiyappanahalli railway station in Bengaluru.
The officials provided food, drinking water, portable toilets and medical facilities to the passengers who took shelter at Baiyappanahalli railway station due to disruption in train services in the wake of the disaster.
After the accident, dozens of trains plying on that route were suspended and the workers who were supposed to go to Kolkata and the northeastern states had to spend the day at the Baiyappanahalli railway station.
Under the guidance of BBMP zonal commissioner PN Ravindra, joint commissioner Pallavi and team, food, snacks, water and other basic facilities have been provided to about 1,500 migrant workers who have taken shelter at Baiyappanahalli railway station, the chief minister’s office said. Medical facilities and mobile toilets have been arranged for them by BBMP, it added.
“There are children, men and women. Buttermilk has been distributed to passengers by KMF. Lunch is arranged for everyone. A mobile toilet has been arranged outside the railway station. We have arranged treatment for anyone who is sick,” Ravindra, BBMP eastern zone commissioner, said.
Meanwhile, the state emergency operations centre has established helplines (1070, 080-22253707, 080-22340676) to address the needs of victims and their families affected in the Balasore train accident. The Karnataka railway police has released helpline numbers to gather information about individuals from the state who onboarded the train.
