Two military helicopters and six boats of the National Disaster Response Force were sent in to rescue as many as 700 people stranded on board a passenger train about 60 km out of Mumbai on Saturday after heavy rain paralysed the city and its surrounding areas.
Hundreds of passengers on the Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Express, stuck on the train near Vangani in Thane district since Friday night, appealed for help with videos shot on cellphones on social media.
Passengers told news agency IANS that they had no drinking water or food in the last 15 hours and no way to get leave as the train was cut off with five to six feet water on all sides.