Venkatesan, a jawan with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), was the first to alert officials about the train accident involving three trains in Odisha’s Balasore. He was a passenger on the B7 coach of the ill-fated Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, travelling to Chennai on leave. He played a crucial role in alerting emergency services about the train accident, which helped in reducing the extent of the accident. As soon as the accident occurred, he alerted his senior official and started rescuing fellow passengers as an experienced NDRF personnel. Venkatesan narrated the moment of the accident and how he helped his fellow passengers who were trapped in the coach.