A cable car carrying passengers in a mountainous area in southern Turkey disintegrated after colliding with part of the metal structure supporting it on Friday, sending eight terrified passengers plummeting to the rocky slopes below.
One passenger died, seven were injured and nearly 200 people were trapped in other cabins mid-air, some overnight and then for hours, until Saturday afternoon as rescuers worked to bring the plane to a halt. They were rescued from paralyzed lines.
Turkey’s interior minister said helicopters, cranes and hundreds of rescue workers had been deployed to the area, evacuating a total of 174 people. Officials said those affected included children, local residents and foreign tourists trapped in huts, some tens of meters above the ground, in the Salisu district of Antalya province.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 13 people were taken to hospital for treatment. Announce on social media.
Cable cars usually transport passengers to a high point on a steep, tree-covered mountain, from where they offer sweeping views of the hills, the city of Antalya and the Mediterranean Sea. Friday can be an especially busy night for the tourism industry there. The weekend begins as Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr, a multi-day holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
At around 6pm local time on Friday, a pole from the system broke and hit one of the cabins. The cabin was smashed and eight passengers fell to the rocky ground, while the floor they were standing on suddenly fell away. . News agency reports.
Demiroren said a 54-year-old man fell from the damaged cable car and died on the spot, while seven other people were injured. Antalya Mayor Muhyiddin Bocek told reporters at the scene that at least three other people were injured during the rescue operation.
Images from the scene showed the mangled car, which had no floor and shattered windows, dangling yards from the ground in the dusk. Other huts—many still occupied by shivering passengers—stretched back and forth on long cables, hanging like tiny orange fruits on vines above the rocks and trees below.
Tall cranes rose near some cars, reaching toward them. In other cases, first responders wearing mountain climbing helmets climbed onto ropes to help trapped people. Metal baskets were used to transport the injured via helicopter.
In one incident, a female passenger wearing high-heeled sandals and holding a child on her chest was evacuated by a seat belt and slowly lowered to the ground. A rescue worker sat on the cable car as she was evacuated while other passengers waited inside.
rescuers tried 137 people evacuated After working through the night and into Saturday morning, officials said they finally concluded the operation Saturday afternoon — nearly a full day after the crash, which left cars parked on the line.
At noon, passengers in five cabins were still waiting to be evacuated, a methodical and dangerous task.
“The airflow is unstable and windy,” Okai Memis, the head of Turkey’s emergency agency, said in a televised speech, adding that it made it difficult for helicopters to fly near the site. “Rescue operations are taking place in a very steep area.”
Memis said local officials have been in contact with the stranded passengers.
Turkey’s justice minister said prosecutors had launched an investigation into the accident and experts had been assigned to determine the root cause and responsibility.
At the time of the accident, all 24 carriages of the cable car line were suspended in the air. Many small cars are rated to seat eight people each, carrying both adults and children. Opened in 2017, the route starts near the picnic area and leads directly to the viewing platform, shop and cafe at the top.
Bocek, the mayor of the municipality responsible for operating the cable line, said in a televised address that weekly and monthly maintenance work on the cable line has been completed.
Deniz Yavuzyilmaz, an official from Bocek’s party, said the most recent annual maintenance was carried out between February 19 and March 4 this year.
