A rescue personnel carries a child during the evacuation for the train passengers.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Over 36 hours after they got stranded at the Srivaikundam Railway Station and in a near-by school in Thoothukudi district, nearly 700 passengers of the Tiruchendur-Chennai Express were evacuated and moved to safety on Tuesday.
About 800 passengers were stuck at the railway station since December 17 night – about 300 of them were shifted to a near-by school the next day --after the train in which they were travelling was halted at the station following damage to the railway track between Srivaikundam and Seydunganallur due to heavy rains.
Due to the rising water level, as many as 500 passengers remained at the station till Tuesday morning when they received the first help from authorities who provided them with biscuits and food packets after about 36 hours. The area could not be reached on Monday despite efforts by the NDRF and Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel.
“By the sunset of December 19, all the 687 passengers were safely evacuated and taken by buses to Vanchi Maniyacchi Station where a special train was kept ready along with food, water and doctors for their onward journey towards Chennai,” a statement from the Southern Railway said.
The stranded passengers walked through water, which was below knee level, for a distance of about 3 kms and after which they were taken by buses to Maniyacchi station after rendering medical assistance by the railway medical team, the statement added.
“About 6 passengers are under medical observation and if they need further treatment they may be admitted in Railway Hospital in Madurai,” it said. Passengers were helped with nylon ropes to wade through the water with the old and infirmed being carried in stretchers with the help of RPF and NDRF, and the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services.
Passengers told News18 Tamil Nadu that they had a harrowing experience for 36 hours without any help. “It was dark when the train halted at the station at 9.30 pm on Sunday. We didn’t know what to do and there was no signal in our phones. Only now are we able to breathe easily,” a passenger said.
Another passenger said the villagers helped them with food and drinking water but that too stopped as the water level began to increase on Monday morning. But on Tuesday, the villagers cooked food for the passengers.