Four members of a tourist family, including two children, were left hanging 150 feet above the ground near Kerala’s Anachal on Friday afternoon after a crane operating a sky dining facility suffered a mechanical failure.
The incident triggered concern among locals and online users as details emerged of a prolonged wait for rescue teams.
The group, along with a female staff member, remained suspended in air for close to two hours.
Locals said the group had been stuck since around 1.30 pm. Fire and rescue personnel eventually reached the spot around 4 pm, alerted not by the management but through news reports, reported ANI.
Visuals from videos on social media showed rescuers climbing ropes to reach the stranded platform.
The two children and their mother were brought down first, followed by the father and the staff member.
By around 4.30 pm, all five individuals had been evacuated. The staffer later told television channels that there was no panic due to the training they had received to deal with emergencies.
She added that the family hailed from Kozhikode.
Fire officials said the restaurant management failed to seek assistance, prompting units from Munnar and Adimali to respond after the incident became public.
Police confirmed that they too had not been informed and had acted on alerts from residents.
According to officials, a suspected hydraulic failure in the crane left the sky dining setup suspended high above the ground. The facility is part of an adventure tourism initiative in the hill district.
The episode sparked criticism on social media where users pointed to systemic lapses in supervising adventure activities.
“Another reminder that adventure activities are not safe in our country. Avoid,” wrote one user.
“At this point, anyone trying to do adventure in our country is a fool,” wrote another.