Turkey cable car accident: 174 people stranded in air rescued

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One cable car hit a pole on Friday afternoon, sending its passengers plummeting to the mountainside below.

The last of 174 people stranded in cable cars high above a mountain in southern Turkey were brought to safety on Saturday.

The rescue operation was completed nearly 23 hours after one pod of a cable car hit a pole and burst open on Friday, killing one and injuring seven others as they plummeted to the rocks below.

Hundreds were left stranded, with more than 40 people still stuck high above the mountain 19 hours after the incident.

The accident occurred on the Tunektepe cable car just outside the Mediterranean city of Antalya during the busy Eid al-Fitr holiday.

A total of 607 search and rescue personnel and 10 helicopters were involved, some with night-vision capabilities.

Operations to rescue the stranded people continued throughout the night from Friday to Saturday.

Istanbul resident Hatice Polat and her family were rescued seven hours into the ordeal. Speaking to the Anadolu agency, she said the power went out and the pod flipped four or five times.

“The night was awful, we were very scared. There were children with us, they passed out,” she said.

“It was torture being up there for seven hours. It is swaying every second, you’re constantly in fear. … It was very traumatic, I don’t know how we’ll get over this trauma.”

State-run Anadolu Agency identified the deceased as a 54-year-old Turkish man. The injured were six Turkish citizens and one Kyrgyz national, including two children. They were rescued by Coast Guard helicopters.

Teams from Turkey’s emergency response agency, AFAD, the Coast Guard, firefighting service and mountain rescue teams from different parts of the country were involved in the operation.

Images in Turkish media showed the battered car swaying from dislodged cables on the side of the rocky mountain as medics tended to the wounded.

A total of 543 first responders and seven helicopters are involved in the rescue operations, including teams from AFAD, the Coast Guard, firefighting teams and mountaineering teams from different parts of Turkey, officials said.

Friday was the final day of a three-day public holiday in Turkey marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which sees families flock to coastal resorts.

The cable car, un by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, carries tourists from Konyaalti Beach to a restaurant and viewing platform at the summit of the 618-metreTunektepe peak.

It is advertised on Trip Advisor as a “must-do” attraction, offering “awesome panoramas of Antalya and the Mediterranean Sea.” The ride takes nine minutes.

The cable car line was completed in 2017. It receives a major inspection around the beginning of the year, as well as routine inspections throughout the year.

Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation.

An expert commission including mechanical and electrical engineers and health and safety experts was assigned to determine the cause of the incident.

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