As many as 32 people from Karnataka, part of volleyball teams, who were stranded after the train accident in Balasore, managed to return on Sunday, with the State government team deployed at Odisha, to oversee the safety of people from the State, facilitating their safe return to Bengaluru.
Tickets were booked for about 17 more people who participated in a folk festival and they were scheduled to board a flight on Sunday night.
The volleyball teams took part in the 45th national volleyball championships at Kolkata in West Bengal and was stranded at Howrah station, owing to the cancellation of trains following the accident. They then contacted the Karnataka team in Odisha, headed by Labour Minister Santosh S. Lad, after which flight tickets were booked.
The volleyball teams boarded a flight from Kolkata airport at around 4.15 a.m. on Sunday and landed in Bengaluru at 6.50 a.m.
Mr. Lad, talking to The Hindu, said another team of 17 persons who participated in the folk fair at Puri in Odisha were also stranded, and contacted him seeking travel arrangements. “We have booked tickets in three flights and they will be reaching on Sunday night,” Mr. Lad informed.
Mr. Lad further said they have been visiting hospitals to check for admissions of injured Kannadigas and are scanning all ledgers. “Fortunately, so far, we have not found any casualties and reports about some deaths in some sections of the media are far from the truth,” he ascertained.
About 110 people were travelling in reserved coaches in the SMVT Bengaluru -Howrah train, but the Railways has not shared the details of those in the general coaches. All efforts are being made to identify those travellers.
Passengers leave Baiyappanahalli
Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) provided food, shelter, mobile toilet facilities to nearly 1,500 passengers who were struck at Baiyappanahalli railway terminal till Sunday afternoon.
P.N. Ravindra, Special Commissioner (Projects), BBMP, said the civic body served food to stranded passengers on Saturday night and Sunday morning and afternoon. “We have now stopped as passengers have started to move out. The movement of trains resumed on Sunday afternoon,” he said.
