Hey Guys, did you hear about the accident on the Tunektepe cable car near Antalya, a city in southern Turkey? It happened late Friday afternoon during the busy Eid al-Fitr holiday. One of the pods hit a post, causing it to burst open. Sadly, one person lost their life, and seven others were injured. More than 40 people were left stranded up there on the mountain in the cable cars.
Rescue efforts started right away and went on through the night. Okan Memis, who heads the Turkish search and rescue agency, said that they managed to rescue 128 people from 16 pods, but they were still working to save the remaining 43 in eight pods. They’re hoping to get everyone down before it gets dark.
Turkey Cable Car Accident Video
The accident was terrifying. The pod hitting the post sent passengers tumbling down the mountainside. The man who lost his life was a 54-year-old Turk, and the injured included six Turkish citizens and one person from Kyrgyzstan, including two kids. They were airlifted to safety by coastguard helicopters.
The scenes on Turkish media were heartbreaking, with the damaged pod swaying precariously from the cables while rescue teams worked tirelessly to help the wounded.
It was a massive operation involving over 500 first responders and seven helicopters from different agencies. The cable car, which takes tourists from Konyaalti beach to a restaurant and lookout at the top of the Tunektepe peak, is run by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality.
This incident has sparked a thorough investigation by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. They’ve assembled a team of experts to figure out exactly what went wrong, including mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as health and safety experts.
It’s a tragic event, especially happening during a holiday when families are out enjoying themselves. Let’s hope they can get to the bottom of it and prevent something like this from happening again.
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