Bhubaneswar, Aug. 3: Landslide triggered by heavy rains disrupted railway traffic in south Orissa and forced the evacuation of over 200 passengers from a train after debris blocked the track near Rayagada last night.

The Bhubaneswar-bound Hirakhand Express, which left Koraput yesterday afternoon, was stranded at Bhalumaska on the Koraput-Rayagada section of East Coast Railway (ECoR) and efforts to clear the line did not yield any results. The landslide followed a spell of heavy rainfall.

Around 11 pm yesterday, the driver of the train applied the brakes after spotting mud and boulders on the track and called up the station manager of Keutuguda using a walkie-talkie. A team led by an assistant engineer rushed to the spot but could not remove the debris.

As rains continued to pound the area, the 230-odd passengers anxiously waited for news from the railway authorities. To make matters worse, the train did not have a pantry car and the passengers were expecting to have dinner at Rayagada station, 28 km from Bhalumaska.

The passengers were taken to Rayagada this morning on a relief train, said Mahendra Pratap, the Rourkela railway superintendent of police.

S.K. Patra, the chief public relations officer of ECoR, said the downpour and darkness prevented early rescue of the passengers, who got breakfast on the way to Rayagada.

The travellers boarded a passenger train at Rayagada which took them to Visakhapatnam. They then headed for Bhubaneswar.

Railway authorities said the line would be clear by tomorrow morning.

Other trains, including the Howrah-Koraput Samaleswari Express — which was terminated at Titlagarh — were also affected.

The weather office sounded an alert for heavy rains in parts of south Orissa due to a deep depression that crossed the coast between Puri and Gopalpur today. The flood has reportedly claimed three lives in Koraput district.

The depression crossed the coast at 8.30 am and is now centred around 50 km north-east of Gopalpur. Under its influence, heavy rains are likely in southern Orissa tomorrow along with winds up to 60 km per hour along the coast.