Seven people, including four tourists from Delhi, were killed, after the cable of one cars of Gondola ropeway at snapped at Gulmarg on Sunday.
The cable snapped after a tree fell on it due to high-velocity winds.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir range, Nitish Kumar, said high-velocity winds uprooted a tree that fell on the cables causing some derailment. “Seven people have died so far and there are some injuries as well. Rescue efforts have been launched,” he said.
The deceased include a family from Shalimar Bagh in New Delhi. They have been identified as Jayant Andraskar, his wife, Manshea Andraskar, and two daughters, Anagha and Janhvi.
After the incident, the ropeway stopped in the tracks with scores of tourists stuck in the cars at different altitudes. It took the authorities around three hours to restart the ropeway and rescue the stranded tourists.
After the tragedy, many cables were left strands at different altitudes for rescue operations that took three hours.
Eyewitnesses recounted three hours of horror they encountered while being stuck in the cars at a very high altitude amidst strong winds.
“We were at the first phase of Gondola when the announcement was made that we should board the cars in five minutes because of the bad weather," said Harsh Manchanda of Delhi. "We were five people in the cable car when it started shaking at 3.30 pm."
One of the world's highest ropeways, the Gulmarg Gondola ascends from 2650 meters to 3980 meters. Built by French firm Pomagalski, the five-kilometer ropeway is divided into two sections.
The first connects Gulmarg to Kongdoori and the second from Kangdoori to the Afarwat peak at 13400 feet. The first phase of the project was commissioned in 1998. The cable car is a major attraction for tourists to visit Gulmarg all over the country and abroad.
Director of tourism called the incident very unfortunate. "This is the first accident in the rope-way since its commissioning in 1998," he said.
Under fire for lack of adequate safety measures, Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered an inquiry into the accident.
“Government has initiated a time-bound inquiry into the Gulmarg Gondola accident to ascertain the facts and take necessary action”, tweeted Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.