2 Killed As Cable Cars Collide In Jharkhand, Air Force Rescues 40 Tourists

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Ranchi: At least two persons were killed and scores injured in a ropeway accident at Trikut hills near Baba Baidyanath Temple in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district on Sunday.

Forty tourists, who were stuck in cable cars, were rescued by Indian Air Force, which deployed one Mi-17 and one Mi-17 V5 helicopter early on Monday. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were also rushed to the spot and had been working since Sunday night to rescue the trapped tourists.

“Ten people have sustained serious injuries in the incident,” PTI quoted Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri as saying.

The cable cars collided after a possible technical snag. But the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.

The ropeway manager and other employees fled the spot after the incident, PTI reported.

The Trikut ropeway, according to the state tourism department website, is India’s highest vertical ropeway with a maximum lens angle of 44 degrees. The 766-metre-long ropeway, with 25 cabins, is situated at a 392-metre-high hill.