The death toll in the ropeway accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar rose to three on Tuesday after an elderly woman fell from a helicopter while being winched up during a rescue operation around noon.
The nearly 44-hour-long rescue operation carried out jointly by Indian Air Force, Indian Army, the ITBP and the NDRF at Trikut Hills, nearly 275km from capital Ranchi, ended around 2pm after the remaining 15 passengers were rescued.
Jharkhand additional director-general of police R.K. Mallick told The Telegraph that 46 out of the 48 stranded people had been rescued.
“It was a difficult rescue operation and 46 out of the 48 stranded persons dangling mid-air were rescued. There were three casualties during the operation. While a woman succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, a middle-aged person died after his seat belt snapped. Despite best efforts to pull him to the helicopter, he fell into the ditch on Monday evening. Another elderly woman died after falling from the helicopter during the rescue operation on Tuesday,” said Mallick.
He said the injured had been taken to Deoghar Sadar Hospital.
Deoghar deputy development commissioner Tarachand Kumar said the injured were stable.
“They were suffering from dehydration and other minor bruises and have been kept under medical supervision and are reported to be stable. A few have been discharged already,” Kumar said.
Deoghar civil surgeon C.K. Shahi said the woman, identified as 60-year-old Shobha Devi, was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
On Tuesday, Jharkhand High Court took suo motu cognisance of the accident. The court of Chief Justice Ravi Ranjan and Justice S.N. Prasad has asked the state to file a detailed inquiry report through an affidavit by April 25. The court will hear the matter on April 26.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren congratulated the Indian Army and its commando unit, IAF, NDRF and ITBP personnel for carrying out the rescue operation in difficult conditions and described the death of three people as tragic.
“I have asked the senior officials to carry out a high level probe into the incident and strict action will be taken against those responsible for it. We will also take a decision on compensation to those killed in the rescue operation,” Hemant said.
