News Desk:
Two airforce choppers Mi-17 helicopters have been rushed for the rescue operations, besides ITBP and NDRF teams at Trikut hills in Deoghar on Monday morning.
At least two tourists died, and dozens were left injured after cable cars in a ropeway collided at Trikut hills close to Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar district of Jharkhand on Sunday evening, said an official.
The Trikut ropeway, which has a maximum lens angle of 44 degrees, is India’s highest vertical ropeway. It is approximately 766 metres long and stands at the height of around 2500 feet. The ropeway has a total of 25 cabins. Each cabin can accommodate four guests. Soon after the incident, the ropeway manager and others fled from the spot.
“Talking with others, we (the passengers) in the trolley spent the night. We tried to encourage each other,” said a tourist who was rescued a few moments earlier.
An attempt was made late at night to give food packages to the people in the cabins. However, food and water were unable to reach a large number of individuals. The NDRF team attempted to throw the packet from the cabin’s open trolley.
Rescue operations were restarted around 5 AM again on Monday.
Since Sunday night, an NDRF team has been fighting to save 11 people. Local residents are also lending a hand in the rescue effort. The tourists are being airlifted to safety at all costs, said, Manjunath Bhajantri, Deputy Commissioner, Deoghar.
“At least ten people were seriously injured in the tragedy while one died late last night,” he added.
A rescue operation is underway for around 40 people are still stuck in the cabins of the ropeway.
Those trapped in the accident have been identified as Amit Kumar, Khushboo Kumari, Jaya Kumari, Chhathi Lal Shah, Duty Ram, Veer Kumar, Naman, Abhishek, Dheeraj, Kaushalya Devi, Annu Kumari, Tanu Kumari, Dimple Kumar and the driver of the vehicle, Putul Sharma, Sudhir Dutta, Saurav Das, Namita, Vinay Das while, Sumati Devi and one other died, said an official.
