Srinagar Seven people were killed after a tree fell on the ropeway in Gulmarg, snapped the cables and brought one of the cable cars crashing hundreds of feet to the ground, reports reaching here said on Sunday.
A Delhi family of four, including two children along with their local guide were in the cabin that came crashing down from a height of more than 30 meters after derailing from a pulley, officials said. All of them died on the spot.
According to police two other persons were killed and four others injured in the accident.
The deceased were identified as, Jayant Andraskar, his wife Manshea Andraskar and their daughters Anagha and Janhvi. Their guide was identified as Mukhtar Ahmad Ganai, resident of Chountpathri Babareshi. Besides two others Jahangir Ahmad Khanday and Farooq Ahmad Chopan both residents of Waripora, Tangmarg also died in the accident. Two persons identified as Ajaz Ahmad Ganie of Kohlina, Chandoosa and Tariq Ahmad Katariya of Pachhar, Chandoosa Baramulla were injured.
The accident also left scores of tourists stranded at upper reaches of Gulmarg including at Kongdoori.
Senior superintendent of police in Baramullah, Imtiyaz Hussain said police was also scouring the nearby forest area for any tourists who may have fallen there.
The two-stage Gulmarg cable car lift ferries people to a height of 13,780 feet above the sea level. It is the world’s second highest operating cable car project with a cabin capacity of ferrying 600 people in one hour.
The incident is first of the kind in the Gulmarg cable car service, which started operating in 1998, and was built by the French firm Pomalgalski.
The accident drew condemnation from former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who, expressing his condolences in a series of tweets, questioned why the cable car service wasn’t shut down during high winds as a precautionary measure.
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