Watch: Train Passengers Stranded In Forest Area As Rainwater Floods Railway Tracks

Rayagada: Heavy rain disrupted train services in coastal Odisha on Saturday.

Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur Hirakhand Express, which left from Rayagada junction at 3 am, got stuck in 5 ft water between Bhalumunda and Rauli station.

Reason: Rainwater flowing from hilly terrain had flooded the railway tracks.

Passengers had to spend 11 hours inside the train in a forest area believed to be frequented by Maoists without food and drinking water.

The train left the area at around 4 pm after the mud was removed and the tracks were repaired.

Similarly, Koraput-Visakhapatnam Passenger and Samleshwari Express going from Jagdalpur to Howrah were stuck due to heavy rain between Laksamipur and Tikri.

Meanwhile, MeT has forecast more rain in the next 17 hours.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik also called a meeting of disaster management team and special forces. He asked them to send rescue teams to all the affected areas.

Many people have been rescued from Malkangiri and villages around Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.