Turkey cable car collision leaves one dead, 10 injured and scores stranded mid-air

Helicopters, mountain rescue teams and 160 emergency workers are involved in the evacuation of stranded passengers, which was ongoing through the night.

A rescue team work to free passengers stuck on the Tunektepe cable car. Pic: AP

One person has died and 10 others have been injured after a cable car cabin burst open after colliding with a broken pole in Turkey.

Passengers were sent plummeting to the ground below after the Tunektepe cable car crashed at around 6pm local time on Friday in the popular tourist city of Antalya.

A further 184 passengers were stranded in 25 cabins that were suspended 10m in the air as a huge rescue effort began, Ali Yerlikaya, Turkey’s interior minister, said.

Helicopters, mountain rescue teams and 160 emergency workers were involved in the evacuation, which was ongoing into the early hours of the morning.

In an update at 7am local time on Saturday, Muhittin Bocek, Antalya metropolitan municipality mayor, said at least 96 people have now been rescued from 15 cabins, with efforts still ongoing for nine cabins.

The governor’s office named Memis Gumus, a Turkish national, as the man who died in the incident and confirmed those who were injured were taken to hospital.

It initially reported seven people had been injured in the collision, but the number was later revised to 10 by health minister Dr Fahrettin Koca.

Mr Koca wrote on X: “One person died and 10 people were injured as a result of a cable car cabin falling in Antalya’s Konyaaltı district.

“May God have mercy on our citizen who lost his life in the accident, I wish a speedy recovery to our injured, and I wish a speedy recovery to the rescued and waiting to be rescued victims.”

The crash occurred on the final day of the three-day Eid al Fitr public holiday in Turkey – which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and sees families flock to coastal resorts.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/cable-car-collision-leaves-one-dead-10-injured-and-hundreds-stranded-mid-air-in-turkey-13113897

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