J'khand ropeway accident: rescue operation ends, three dead, 60 evacuated

Attempts to rescue passengers trapped in cable cars on a ropeway for over 46 hours in Jharkhand's Deoghar district ended Tuesday afternoon with a tragedy as a 60-year-old woman fell to her death while she was being winched up by a helicopter, raising the death toll to three, officials said. All other 60 tourists, stranded since Sunday 4 pm, after a ropeway malfunction resulted in trolleys colliding at Trikut hills, were ssafely evacuated with the help of Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters since Monday.

Fourteen of the last remaining 15 tourists, who were trapped mid-air for more than 40 hours, were rescued during the day.

''Of the remaining 15 people trapped in cable cars overnight, 14 were rescued while a woman fell off the chopper during the course of the operation,'' Additional Director General of Police R K Mallick told PTI from the spot over phone.

Deoghar Civil Surgeon C K Shahi said the woman, identified as 60-year-old Shobha Devi, was declared dead on being taken to a hospital. It was unclear whether the harness wrapped around her or the rope which was being used to pull her snapped, resulting in her fall and eventual death. Mallick said those rescued were sent to hospitals, where they will be examined. Three people have died so far, including two tourists who fell to their death as they were being hauled up into helicopters on Monday and Tuesday during botched rescue attempts, while 12 injured people are undergoing treatment at hospitals.

The rescue operation was conducted jointly by the IAF, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the district administration. Food and water were supplied to the stranded people using drones.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren assured he will order a high-level probe in the incident.

''I have directed all senior officials to find out the reasons behind the accident and who are accountable for this. A high-level probe will be conducted in the matter and action will be taken accordingly. The state government is keeping a close watch on the situation,'' Soren said.

Governor Ramesh Bais has expressed deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured people.

''The accident on the ropeway built on Trikut hills of Deoghar, a world-famous religious place, is very sad and painful. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and pray to Baba Baidyanath for the speedy recovery of the injured,'' he said.

BJP vice-president and former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das had earlier accused the state government of being inactive, even after such a major accident, and claimed that ministers hailing from the region did not visit the site.

''The government did not care about the lives of the people. The inability to make quick decisions resulted in passengers hanging in the air overnight,'' Das said demanding a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the next of kin of the deceased.

The area which boasts of the famous Trikutachal Mahadeva Temple and the hermitage of Sage Dayananda, Trikut hills has several peaks, with the highest at 2,470 feet above the sea level.

The Trikut ropeway, according to the Jharkhand tourism department, is India's highest vertical ropeway. It is around 766-metre long. In a statement, the IAF said an Mi-17V5, one Mi-17, one Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and one Cheetah helicopter flew more than 26 hours during the evacuation operation.

The rescue contingent included five Garud commandos of the IAF, who had the daunting task of climbing onto the stranded trolleys, while being attached to the helicopter's winch cable, accessing it from outside, strapping up each survivor individually and getting them winched up and into the helicopter hovering overhead, it said.

Smaller children were carried up to the helicopter by the Garud commandos themselves, it said.

The helicopter crew was faced with their own challenges where they had to maintain a steady hover, with practically no visual reference, in conditions of strong winds in the hilly terrain, the release mentioned. The crew went from one trolley to the next to carry out their task, which was as risky for the crew as it was for the survivors of the mishap, the IAF said.

The operation, spread over two days, also saw two unfortunate incidents wherein, despite best efforts, the survivors could not be rescued safely due to the inherently difficult nature of the rescue operation, it added. ''The IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives of these two individuals and expresses its deepest condolences to their families. The IAF reaffirms its commitment to providing support, succour and relief to our citizens always and every time,'' it said.