Authorities asked air force helicopters to help evacuate nearly 300 passengers stranded in a train on flooded rail tracks in western Gujarat state where heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 102 people this week, a state government minister said Friday. Nearly 200,000 people have been evacuated from their flooded homes to higher ground in the state, said Narottam Patel, the Gujarat state water resources minister, according to AP. «There is up to five feet (1.5 meters) of water on the rail tracks,» Press Trust of India news agency quoted K. K. Dubey, a railway spokesman, as saying. «We got phone calls from the passengers who are stuck on board the Shanti Express. They said that the water level was rising, and it has entered their coaches.» Army soldiers were on their way to help passengers and the air force also has been asked to use helicopters to rescue them, he said. The passengers have been stranded since Thursday in the train at the Dakor railroad station, 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of the state capital. --More 2150 Local Time 1850 GMT
