India, Aug. 20 -- A total of 582 terrified commuters were rescued mid-air after the Mumbai Monorail stalled while navigating a curve near Mysore Colony station at 6pm, leaving its coaches dangerously tilted. A multi-agency rescue operation took over three and a half hours as the power shutdown that brought the train to a halt prevented the doors from opening. It was 90 minutes before the first few commuters were pulled out after fire-fighters hoisted on snorkels smashed windows to rescue them.

"It was raining outside and growing dark rapidly. Also, the air-conditioning had shut down and we were suffocating. Worst of all, the train tilted dangerously and we were praying we would make it out alive," said Sagar Shinde.

Another passenger, H...