Eight players and coach from Mysuru; teams arrive in Bengaluru

Mysore/Mysuru: In an unfortunate incident involving a train crash in Balasore, Odisha, a group of 38 sub-junior volleyball players from Karnataka found themselves stranded in Kolkata. However, collaborative efforts made by the State Government, officials and MLAs ensured the safe return of the players to Bengaluru.

The sub-junior volleyball players, both men and women, aged 16 and below, had participated in a tournament held in Howrah, Kolkata, between May 27 and June 1. Originally scheduled to return by train on June 2, their plans were disrupted due to the train accident in Odisha.

Though they were not on board when the ill-fated trains collided on Friday evening, the players were supposed to return home by the same train later in the night.

Nine students and Coach from the Mysuru district were also part of the State teams — Akash, Goutham, Puttaswamy, S. Arun Kumar, B. Ramu, J. Manoranjan and Coach DharmapuraMahadeva Murthy from Hunsur, Manjunath of Periyapatna and Dushyanth of K.R. Nagar.

Coach DharmapuraMahadeva Murthy contacted former Hunsur MLA H.P. Manjunath and current MLA G.D. Harish Gowda, who subsequently reached out to Chief Minister Siddharamaiah. Recognising the urgency and concerns of the players’ parents, the CM swiftly organised flight tickets through Labour Minister Santosh Lad.

The Government took proactive steps to assist the stranded players. Also, a five-member team, led by Santosh Lad, was dispatched to Odisha and West Bengaluru to provide support and arrange for the safe return of Kannadigas.

Flight tickets were secured for the 32 volleyball players, including their coach and they departed from Kolkata in a flight today and arrived in Bengaluru. The team returned in two batches. “The other arrangements for the students are made for the team as there are no trains from Kolkata to Bangalore due to the train accident. The flight arrangements have been made on the request of coaches,” Lad said.

Congress Spokesperson Anil Kumar Tadkal; Commissioner, Karnataka Disaster Management Authority and Special Secretary to Karnataka Government Manoj Rajan; Jr. Scientific Officer, Disaster Management, Karnataka government S. Sunil Mano Gavaskar; and a junior staff Siddana Gowda reached thesite yesterday.

The team visited Bhadrak district hospital and other places where the injured in the accident are being admitted and treated to find out whether there is anyone from Karnataka.

Two youths from Gundlupet miraculously survive accident

Two young men from Gundlupet taluk in Chamarajanagar miraculously survived the train accident. Mahesh and Pavan, residents of Bommalapura village in Gundlupet taluk, were travelling on the ill-fated train.

The information came to light when Minister Santosh Lad spoke to Gundlupet MLA H.M. Ganesh Prasad and provided assistance to the youths, sending them money through net banking to facilitate their return to Karnataka using an alternative route.

The two young men were on their way to attend an Army Selection Camp. They were stranded in the train accident and MLA Ganesh Prasad promptly reached out to support and assist them.