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Jharkhand cable car accident: IAF joins rescue efforts

40 people are still stranded

A tourist being rescued from a cable car | Twitter handle of ITBP

 The Indian Air Force dispatched two Mi-17 transport helicopters on Monday to rescue people stranded on cable cars in Jharkhand's Deoghar district.

PTI reported at least 48 tourists were stranded in a row of 12 cable cars that collided with each other at Trikut hills, close to Baba Baidyanath Temple, on Sunday. At least two people are believed to have been killed in the accident, which left around 10 people with serious injuries.

ANI reported at noon on Monday that 8 people had been rescued so far, but 40 still remain stranded. Vivek Pandey, the public relations officer of the ITBP, told ANI it was possible to complete the rescue operations by late evening on Monday. He added it was difficult to provide food to all the cable cars.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was also monitoring the rescue efforts.

The accident happened around 4.30pm on Sunday. Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri told PTI initial suspicions are that the accident was caused by a technical mishap.

The Trikut ropeway, according to the Jharkhand tourism department, is India's highest vertical ropeway with a maximum lens angle of 44 degrees.

The ropeway, situated around 20km from Baba Baidyanath Temple, is around 766m long, while the hill is 392m high.

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