Indian Air Force choppers have so far rescued 25 of 48 tourists who were stuck mid-air after Sunday's accident on the ropeway at Trikut hills of Deoghar district in Jharkhand with local residents claiming on Monday that at least three persons had died.
The rescued passengers were airlifted with the help of two Air Force helicopters, Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri told news agency PTI. The ropeway which runs through a picturesque densely forested valley is surrounded by hills, making rescue difficult, except by air.
The Deoghar district administration has confirmed the death of only one person so far - a woman - after a section of the 800-metre ropeway snapped at 5.30 pm on Sunday while on its last trip of the day ferrying tourists. One of the cabins (chair cars) collided with another, which, in turn, hit a rock. This led to some wires being snapped.
Four persons were rescued from their cabin cars in the morning, district officials said, while four others were rescued from the two cable cars that had collided. Seven others are understood to have been picked up safely from their cable cars later in the day.
Two Indian Air Force helicopters and teams of the Army and CISF were pressed into service at the Trikut hills early on Monday to step up rescue operations.
There were 48 people using the ropeway when the mishap occurred.
Several people were injured, said district administration sources. At least one of them is critical.
Photographs and videos from the area went viral on social media hours after the mishap. One showed a man holding on to an overhead wire, hanging precariously.
Chief minister Hemant Soren said that his government was working on war footing to save all those who have been stranded. "We will do all that is possible to save lives at Trikut. We are also in touch with different experts for assistance," he told the media at Ranchi airport on Monday.
Soon after the incident, the Deoghar district administration pressed into service a team of the NDRF. Members of the rescue team, with help of local authorities and residents, saved some of the trapped tourists. However, at least 40 people were still stuck inside their cabins, stranded mid-air in their cabin cars.
"They couldn't be rescued as they were stuck at a very high altitude. We did not have any means to reach them there. Visibility was zero as it was night. However, our teams were on the ground all through the night," said an official of the district administration.
The ropeway service of Trikut Pahar, which began in 2003 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 launched 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 Hills 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.
The State disaster management department had sent an urgent letter to the Centre seeking help from the Indian Air Force late on Sunday. "We don't have resources or expertise for such mid-air rescue missions. Hence, we sought help from the IAF and the Union government," said a senior official at the state disaster management department.
Deoghar deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri said teams from the Army, IAF, CISF had also reached the spot to help in the rescue mission.
