Tamil Nadu bus accident: Ham radio operators help in rescue of 72 passengers from Benga

Seventy-two passengers, predominantly from South 24-Parganas district of West Bengal, who met with an accident in Tamil Nadu during their tour of South India were safely rescued from the accident site through prompt intervention from local amateur radio operators along with the local administration.

Ten of the tourists are still admitted in a local hospital while transportation arrangements to bring the rest home have been made. The tourist bus had left a few days back from Baruipur. On Tuesday, the bus while going from Ooty, Tamil Nadu, towards Mysore, met with an accident near Bandipur and overturned.

A local ham radio operator who was travelling in a motorcycle first came across the injured tourists and informed the Indian Institute of Ham (IIH). Manjunath R and Sankar Satyapal of IIH contacted the local administration and the entire team reached the spot. The passengers were rescued and necessary arrangements were made for medical services.

Twenty-five injured passengers were admitted to Sims Hospital in Chamarajanagar for treatment. Accommodation arrangements were made for the rest at Dr BR Ambedkar Bhawan, Gundlupet.

“As soon as I came to know of the matter from our IAH counterpart, I informed the concerned administration in South 24 Parganas. Arrangements for video calling were made for the tourists who assured their family members in Bengal that they are safe,” Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of West Bengal Radio Club- an organisation of ham radio operators in Bengal, said.

Sukumar Halder, an accident victim, said that the situation could have been worse had there been delay in rescue operations. Sources said that the bus in the late afternoon left for Bengaluru railway station with 62 odd tourists. From Bengaluru, they will be transported to the Odisha border near Vishakapatnam by another bus, and from there arrangements will be made by the South 24-Parganas district administration so that they can reach their respective residences safely. Ten of the tourists need further treatment for at least 4-5 days before

returning home.