TN rains: Videos show IAF chopper airlifting stranded pregnant woman, 1.5-year-old baby

Special train, buses were arranged to transport stranded passengers

CNN Central News & Network–ITDC India Epress/ITDC News Bhopal: Four passengers, including a pregnant woman and a 1.5 year old baby, trapped in Tiruchendur Express train in Thoothukudi were rescued on Tuesday and shifted to a Madurai hospital for treatment. The airlifted passengers were in poor health condition, according to reports.

The Chennai-bound Tiruchendur-Chennai Egmore Express (Train No 20606), which departed from Tiruchendur, stopped midway due to heavy rains in Thoothukudi. But the passengers could not venture outside as the entire place was inundated.

The IAF's Special Forces used MI - 17 V5 helcopters for Humanitarian Assistane and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions to rescue the stranded passengers.

With the assistance of rescue personnel, around 300 of the 800 stranded passengers were rescued swiftly and shifted to a nearby government school. Efforts were on to rescue the remaining people, including children trapped inside the train which has stopped at Srivaikuntam station between Thoothukudi and Tiruchendur. Food packets were air-dropped by an IAF helicopter for the other passengers.

After the water level came down, around 100 passengers walked for 3km with the help of an NDRF team and railway staff and went to nearby Vellore. Buses and boats have been arranged to shift the remaining passengers. Also, a special train has been arranged at Vanchi Maniyachchi Railway Station to take some of the passengers to their original destination in Chennai.