Cable car accident leaves one dead, 10 injured in Antalya resort

One of the facility’s cabins fell into a rocky area Friday after a tower collapsed.

One person was killed and ten others injured when a cable car pylon collapsed outside the southern Turkish resort of Antalya, Turkish authorities announced Friday (April 12). Helicopters equipped with night vision were called in to rescue the 184 people still stranded overnight in the cable car cabins. The rescue operation for the 174 passengers ended on Saturday, after the evacuation of the last 29 people who were still hanging above the void, rescuers said.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the death and injuries occurred when one of the cabins of the Sarisu-Tunektepe cable car plunged into a rocky area following the pylon collapse. As of Saturday morning, 98 people had been evacuated, he said on Xwhile rescue efforts continued in nine cabins, according to Turkish channel TRT.

Around 110 rescue workers were sent to the accident site, the minister said, while other mountaineering specialists were flown in from other parts of Turkey. A group of 10 opposition MPs also went there to “investigate the accident in detail”said Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

An investigation has been opened to clarify the causes of the accident, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç announced on Saturday. Detention orders have been issued against 13 people, including officials of the company operating the cable car, as part of an investigation into the causes of the accident, he added.