It was a Sunday outing that turned into a nightmare when cable cars on a ropeway in Jharkhand’s Deoghar collided, leading to two deaths and a 46-hour gruelling rescue operation which also ended in tragedy as a woman fell to her death while being winched up by an IAF helicopter.
For the 60 other tourists, stranded since Sunday 4pm after the ropeway malfunction at Trikut hills, around 20 kilometres from the famous Baba Baidyanath temple, life will never be the same.
Recounting the horror, a tourist stranded with six other family members was quoted as saying that they urinated in bottles to drink it in the absence of drinking water. Another said they were sure of death but the rescue team was “godsend”.
A woman who was rescued broke down while recalling the tragedy and rued the loss of a fellow passenger who could not be saved. Thanking the IAF, she said the tourists were dehydrated and hungry and had given up hope.
Sandeep, one of the people who was rescued from one of the trolleys by the CISF, told ABP News that the incident took place around 3:30 pm. However, when they called the emergency number written on the trolley, they were told that there was some glitch and that services would be restored shortly.
He added that the tourists spent the night praying and hoping to be rescued even though the chances seemed slim as the height of the ropeway and the darkness as the day ended added to the troubles of the rescue personnel.
Anil, a tourist, told CNN-News18 that the administration was successful in providing water and food to them and thanked the IAF for rescuing them. “We weren’t sure if we would survive. But the IAF rescued us. We kept calling the helpline number and got information about our situation.”
Sushila Devi, another passenger stuck on the ropeway, however said they did not get even water when they were stuck. “We were stuck since 4pm on Sunday evening and were brought down through ropes by the IAF. We were scared to come down using a rope but didn’t have an option.”
Trikut ropeway is one of the highest vertical ropeways and has a maximum lens angle of 44 degrees. It has been built some 20 km from Baba Baidyanath Temple and is about 766-metres-long. The Trikut hill is 392-metres-high. The ropeway has 25 cabins and each can seat four people.
The accident appears to have been caused by a technical snag, an official said, adding, that the exact cause is yet to be ascertained. The ropeway manager and other employees fled the spot after the incident.
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