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In a turn of tragic events, at least one person is reported to have died while 48 others were trapped mid-air in a row of 12 ropeway cable cars that collided with each other at Trikut hills, close to Baba Baidyanath Temple, in Jharkhand's Deoghar district.
"All efforts are being made to airlift the tourists to safety. An NDRF team working since Sunday night has rescued 11 people. Locals, too, are helping with the rescue operation. Ten people have sustained serious injuries in the incident, of which one of them died late last night," Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri told PTI over phone.
Prima facie it seemed that a technical snag caused the accident, the DC maintained. He also said that the ropeway was being run by a private company.
The IAF received the request for the rescue of approximately 40 tourists stuck in the Trikoot Hills Ropeway Service, in the Deoghar district of Jharkhand. Acting on the request, the IAF deployed one Mi-17 and one Mi-17 V5 helicopter early in the morning on Monday.
The IAF contingent also has a component of IAF Garud Commandos for conducting the operations. A recce was conducted by one of the helicopters in the morning and operations are underway in coordination with the district administration and NDRF, as per reports.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted in the noon, "The administration, army and NDRF team are working with full readiness to rescue the people trapped in the Deoghar Trikoot ropeway accident. I am constantly monitoring the situation. Soon all will be taken out safely."
Operators running the system fled the area shortly after the accident. The Trikut ropeway, according to the Jharkhand tourism department, is India's highest vertical ropeway with a maximum lens angle of 44 degrees.
*With inputs from agencies
