ISTANBUL (AP) — One person was killed and seven others were injured Friday when a cable car in southern Turkey hit a pole and exploded, sending passengers plummeting to the mountainside below, officials and local media said. Dozens of other people were left stranded late at night after the cable car system came to a complete halt.
State-run Anadolu Agency said two children were among those injured in the accident that occurred on the Tunctepe cable car outside the Mediterranean city of Antalya at around 6 p.m. during the busy Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Anatolia said that the dead man was a 54-year-old Turkish man, and said that six Turkish citizens and a Kyrgyz citizen were injured.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said three hours after the accident that five of the injured were transported from the mountain by helicopter, and efforts are still continuing to transport the other injured. More than 160 first responders, including Coast Guard air crews and mountaineering teams from various parts of Turkey, participated in the rescue operation, the minister posted on the social media site X.
Antalya Mayor Muhittin Butcek said in a statement that about 184 other passengers were trapped in 25 other cable cars tens of meters above the ground while engineers tried to restart the system. He added that helicopters equipped with night vision cameras were heading to the site.
The search and rescue agency (AFAD) later said that 49 people had been rescued from the suspended capsules, leaving 135 people still stranded close to midnight – about six hours after the accident.
Pictures published by Turkish media showed the wrecked car swaying due to dislodged wires on the side of the rocky mountain while paramedics treated the wounded.
Friday was the last day of a three-day public holiday in Turkey marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which sees families flock to seaside resorts.
A cable car takes tourists from Konyaaltı Beach to a restaurant and viewing platform atop the 618-meter (2,010 ft) Tunktepe Peak. It is operated by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality.
The Antalya Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation. An expert committee was formed, including mechanical and electrical engineers and health and safety experts, to determine the cause of the accident.
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