Deoghar, April 12, 2022: More than 40 hours after a cable car collision in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district, three people remain stranded in three carriages mid-air while over 40 were rescued in a risky operation involving two Air Force helicopters and dozens of officials.
Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri said the rescue operations were being carried out by the combined teams of the Indian Air Force, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Water and food are being provided to the trapped people with the help of drones, officials said.
#IAF has recommenced rescue operations at Deoghar ropeway early morning today.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 12, 2022
Efforts are on to rescue each and every stranded person at the earliest.#HarKaamDeshKeNaam pic.twitter.com/06PTraKHBC
The death count in the accident climbed to three when a person fell from a helicopter while being rescued last evening. A horrific video showed the man clinging to a rope suspended from the chopper for several moments before he suddenly lost his grip and fell, leaving witnesses screaming in shock.
Rescue operations had to be stopped after sunset last evening as the ropeway runs through a picturesque yet densely forested area surrounded by hills, access to which is difficult except by air.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has ordered a high-level investigation into the ropeway accident. O"I express my deepest condolences on the incident on Trikut mountain and the deaths in it. There will be a high-level inquiry into the matter," the Chief Minister said in a tweet yesterday.The Trikut ropeway, according to the Jharkhand tourism department, is India’s highest vertical ropeway. It is around 766-metre long.