Nearby villagers to the train accident site were the first rescuers taking their household utensils including other instruments like shovels and hammers to the site on Monday. They managed to rescue most of the dead and injured from the bogies amid heavy rainfall. This happened hours before the teams of NDRF, railway men and rescue personnel could reached the accident site.
As per the villagers, the rescue teams reached the accident site at around 10.45 am and began their rescue operation, around two hours later ater the accident had occured.
By the time, the team of NDRF reached the destination almost all the injured were rescued from the bogies, said the villagers.
The site where the accident took place is just 11 km away from the New Jalpaiguri junction.
However, both the railway and NDRF have denied the allegations of late arrival.
Referring to the location of accident they said, the site was in between two rural railway stations and the railway trek alongside the tea plantation and agricultural crops that was a constraint leading to difficulty in reaching the destination.
Many of the injured were rushed to hospitals in e-rickshaws before the ambulances arrived at the location, said a local named Nirmal Jote.
Another local Md Hasim said, hammers and chisels were used to open the doors and rescue the passengers stuck inside. Most of coaches were closed because of the rain, he said.
“I cut my hand while rescuing a passenger who was stuck. There were no ambulances. Local youths hired private vehicles and sent the injured to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital,” said a local named Md Rahul.
An NDRF officer said they were alerted about the accident at 10.05am. The first of the three teams reached the spot by 10.40am, he added. “,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, a NDRF official said that they were informed about the accident at around 10.05am and that the first two teams reached the site at 10.40am, he also said, “There were three bodies – that of the loco pilot and co-pilot of the goods carriage and that of the guard of Kanchenjunga Express – that were caught in a mangled mess. Our men managed to retrieve them. The entire rescue operation was complete by 2pm. While two of our teams are on standby at the spot, one has left,” said an official.
