Over 40 people were rescued today after being trapped for over 40 hours in three cable cars in Jharkhand's Deoghar district. The operation, which involved two Air Force helicopters and hundreds of authorities, was perilous.
The rescue operations were carried out by a combined team of the Indian Air Force, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and National Disaster Response Force, according to Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri (NDRF).
When two people, a man and a woman, fell from a helicopter while being rescued, the death toll in the disaster rose to three.
Two cable cars collided on the ropeway at Trikut Hills near Baba Baidyanath Temple on Sunday afternoon after a technical problem on the ropeway caused them to collide.
Because the ropeway travels through a scenic but densely forested area surrounded by hills, access is difficult unless by air, rescue activities had to be halted after nightfall last evening.
The Deoghar ropeway incident has been seized suo motu by the Jharkhand High Court, which has ordered an investigation. The case will be heard in court on April 26.
Officials believe the collision of cable cars was caused by a mechanical problem, although the specific reason of the tragedy has yet to be determined. According to news agency PTI, the ropeway manager and several personnel fled the scene following the event.
According to the Jharkhand tourism department, the Trikut ropeway is India's highest vertical ropeway. It is approximately 766 metres long.