On 21.01.2017 at 2300 hrs, the engine and eight coaches of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express went off the track near Kuneru railway station in distt. Vjaynagaram, Andhra Pradesh. In which a large number of people feared killed/injured and trapped under the derailed coaches.

On receipt of information, 01 search and rescue team of NDRF comprising of 22 responders immediately rushed to the incident site at 0100 hrs on 22.01.2017 from its Regional Response Centre (RRC), Vishakhapatnam. The team reached the spot at 0500 hrs and started search and rescue operations.

Keeping in view the magnitude of the accident and to strengthen the rescue operations, 02 teams comprising of 90 responders left at 0155 hrs and the other 02 teams comprising 71 responders left at 0355 hrs from NDRF base Mundali, Cuttack, Odisha. Consequently all the additional teams of NDRF reached at the incident site and joined the rescue operations.

Sh. S.P. Selvan, DIG NDRF also reached the incident site to supervise the rescue operations.

During the operation, NDRF responders displayed their professionalism and used latest disaster management gadgets and tools to trace the victims under the mangled coaches of derailed train. NDRF rescuers have evacuated 13 live and retrieved 15 dead bodies. The rescue operation was called off at 1530 hrs on 22.01.2017.