One person died and ten others were injured in a cable car accident in the southern Turkish tourist metropolis of Antalya. A cabin on the Tünektepe cable car, which is also popular with holiday guests, crashed on Friday. People were trapped in the other cabins. After almost 24 hours at dizzy heights, the last occupants were rescued. The last remaining 29 passengers were also safe, the rescue workers said on Saturday afternoon.
Support pillars bent over
A support pillar of the Sarisu-Tünektepe cable car in the mountains near Antalya collapsed around 5:30 p.m. on Friday and hit a cabin. The cabin floor broke open and the occupants fell into the rocky terrain. According to the Turkish civil protection authority, the remaining 174 passengers in the cable car cabins were gradually rescued by Saturday afternoon in an “extremely risky operation”.
“Flaws and Rust”
Ten helicopters and more than 600 rescue workers were deployed.
The authorities began investigations. An arrest warrant was issued against 13 suspects, including the heads of the cable car company. The cause of the accident was “defects and rust at the connection points of the support pillars,” explained Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc. According to initial investigations, the cable car’s rollers were also in poor condition.
Particularly busy
The cable car was particularly busy because of the sugar festival at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. According to the operator, the cable car has been in operation since 2017 and consists of 36 cabins. It transports its guests to the summit of Tünektepe at a height of 605 meters. The journey takes around nine minutes. There is space for six people in a cabin. 1,200 people can be transported per hour. From the summit there is a view of Antalya and the Mediterranean. Antalya is a popular tourist destination.