In a horrifying ordeal that occurred high above the Mediterranean city of Antalya, Turkey, 174 passengers were left stranded in cable cars following a devastating accident. The event, just outside Antalya on the Tunektepe cable car system, spanned nearly 23 hours starting from 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 12, 2024. The rescue operation, a monumental effort involving over 607 personnel and ten helicopters, including those equipped with night vision, was successfully concluded by Saturday afternoon.
The incident began when one of the cable car pods struck a damaged pole, causing it to burst open and hurl its occupants down to the rocky mountainside below. The crash resulted in one fatality, a 54-year-old Turkish man, and injuries to at least seven others, including two children. The Antalya province, usually bustling during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, turned into a scene of an emergency rescue.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that the rescue operation involved many teams, including Turkey’s emergency response agency, AFAD, the Coast Guard, firefighting units, and mountain rescue groups from different parts of the nation. He emphasized the significant role of night-vision helicopters during the nighttime rescue efforts.
The ordeal was particularly traumatic for the stranded passengers. Istanbul resident Hatice Polat described the terrifying moments when the power went out, and the pod began to flip repeatedly. “There were children with us who fainted,” Polat told the local media. “Being trapped up there for seven hours was agonizing. The constant swaying put us in perpetual fear… It was an extremely traumatic experience, and I’m not sure how we will recover from this trauma.”
The scale of the rescue operation was vast, with local media reporting that a mixture of 607 search and rescue personnel worked tirelessly alongside ten helicopters to ensure the safe retrieval of all stranded individuals. This included two children who were rescued by Coast Guard helicopters in critical condition.
Based on details from its website, the cable car system built in 2017 consists of 36 cabins, or pods, each holding six passengers. The average journey to the Tunektepe facility, which offers a panoramic view of Antalya from 2,000 feet up, takes about nine minutes. Twenty-four of the cabins were stranded on Friday at the time of the incident.
As the investigation unfolds, Turkish prosecutors have detained 13 individuals associated with the cable car’s operation and maintenance, pointing to negligence over the cable car system’s upkeep. Preliminary reports suggest the tragedy stemmed from corrosion and damage at the connection points of the carrier poles and the rolling system, raising questions about the operating company’s regular maintenance and safety checks.
The terrain and the mechanical challenges involved in the rescue added to the situation’s complexity. “Our teams worked under extremely challenging conditions, but their dedication and the sophisticated equipment available, including helicopters with night-vision capabilities, played a pivotal role in the success of this operation,” said an official from AFAD
Local leaders have pledged to conduct a thorough review of all similar systems throughout the region to prevent such incidents in the future.