All tourists trapped in cable cars of the ropeway at Deoghar's Trikut hills were rescued on Tuesday, over 40 hours after an accident led to its stalling but three persons died, including a man and a woman who fell while they were being airlifted by IAF personnel on choppers.
"Of the remaining 15 people trapped in cable cars (since Monday night after rescue efforts were stopped for the night), 14 have been rescued while a woman fell from the chopper during the course of the rescue operation," Additional Director General of Police R K Mallick told PTI from the spot over phone.
The rescue operations have now ended. As many as 48 people, including children, were stranded inside their cable cars mid-air after an accident on Sunday evening. Because of what is now being described as a mechanical fault, two cable cars collided leading to some wires being snapped. After that the ropeway ceased to move.
Deoghar Civil Surgeon C.K. Shahi said that the woman who died on Tuesday was identified as Shobha Devi (60). She was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.
Jharkhand High Court is understood to have taken suo motu cognizance of the Deoghar ropeway tragedy. It is likely to hold a hearing on April 26.
Chief minister Hemant Soren thanked the Air Force, Army and all the other institutions who had sent personnel to help in what was an extremely challenging rescue mission since it had to be conducted in a hilly terrain that made access to the stalled cable cars very difficult.
"I thank all those who risked their lives to save those who were stranded. After reaching Ranchi, we will get the incident probed threadbare and fix responsibility," he said.
The rescue operation was being conducted jointly by the IAF, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force and the district administration. Food and water were supplied to the stranded people using drones. Rescue efforts had to be stopped at night, once on Sunday and again on Monday.
Jawans rescuing children. The Telegraph picture
Mallick said that all those who have been rescued have been sent to hospital, where they will be examined.
Operations to rescue remaining tourists from cable cars of the ropeway resumed at 5am on Tuesday with 10 people being successfully airlifted with the help of Indian Air Force choppers. Five tourists were rescued first early on Tuesday morning, said Deoghar deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri. Soon after five more were picked up.
Indian Army make an injured person lie down after the ropeway mishap. The Telegraph picture
One woman died on Tuesday during the rescue. Two others were killed, including a man who fell from the helicopter during the rescue operation on Monday, and another woman identified as Sumant Devi, died on Sunday. Sumant, who was from Sarath, died as a result of the collision of cable cars. “A pulley of one of the trollies got stuck resulting in the incident,” Deoghar deputy commissioner Bhajantri posted on Twitter.
Service launched in 2009
The Trikut ropeway, according to the Jharkhand tourism department, is India's highest vertical ropeway. It is around 800 metre long. It was was launched in 2009 and is the only such tourist facility in Jharkhand.
The three peaks of Trikut hill, said to signify the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, are a huge draw for tourists from Jharkhand and neighbouring states of Bengal, Odisha and Bihar. The ropeway was introduced to ferry pilgrims to the top of the hill, which is a difficult climb on foot as there is no clear-cut pathway.
The highest of the three peaks of Trikut hill is at 2,470 feet from sea level and around 1,500 feet from the ground. The ropeway takes tourists to the top of the main peak offering a 360 degree view of Deoghar.
