4 tourists among 7 dead in Gulmarg cable car mishap
TREE FALLS ON ROPEWAY Couple, daughters, 3 local guides killed; over 100 tourists rescued
Seven people, including a family of four from Delhi, were killed in a freak accident that hit Gulmarg’s famous Gondola cable lift system on Sunday.
Officials said a tree fell on the ropeway, causing it to recoil so violently that passengers in two cars were left with fatal injuries.
Among the dead were Jayant Andraskar, his wife Manshea and their daughters Anagha and Janhvi — residents of Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, and their guide Mukhtar Ahmad Ganai.
Jahangir Ahmed Khanday, also a local guide, and Farooq Ahmad Chopan were the other casualties. Locals said a storm hit the region around 3pm. “A tree was uprooted, and it hit a second tree that fell on the ropeway,” said Imtiyaz Hussain, Baramulla SSP.
Authorities at Tanmarg hospital, where the bodies were taken to, said the victims showed signs of multiple internal injuries. “The autopsy will be conducted tomorrow before the bodies are flown to Delhi,” a doctor at the hospital told HT.
Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti announced a Rs 5 lakh payout to the relatives of those who died. “What terrible news! If confirmed this will be the first such incident with the Gulmarg cable car. My heart felt (sic) condolences to the families”, said former CM Omar Abdullah on Twitter.
The Gulmarg Gondola is among key tourist attractions in a region known as one of Asia’s best ski resorts. The service is one of the highest and longest cable-based lift services in the continent, ferrying passengers to and from the Gulmarg base to the Kongdori station roughly 4,000 feet above.
Survivors in other cars recounted feeling shocked when they stopped moving with a violent lurch. “It was panic for the three hours that we were stuck on the cable car,” said Rekha Lakhanpal, who had come with her Delhi-based relative Chitra Wazir Kumar.
“Our car was right behind the victims’. We saw it happen,” said a shaken Kumar.
The system was stopped for three hours after the tree fell, and officials slowly started to reel in the cars that had been in the air around 6pm. After checks, the service was resumed to bring back nearly 150 people who were stuck at the Kongdori station.