One person has died and 10 others have been injured after a cable car cabin burst open after colliding with a broken pole in Turkey.
Passengers were sent plummeting to the mountains below after the Tunektepe cable car crashed at around 6pm local time on Friday in the popular tourist city of Antalya.
A further 184 passengers were stranded in 25 cabins that were suspended 10 metres in the air as a huge rescue effort began, Ali Yerlikaya, Turkey‘s interior minister, said.
Multiple helicopters, mountain rescue teams and 160 emergency workers were involved in the evacuation, which was ongoing into the early hours of the morning.
In an update at 7am local time on Saturday, Muhittin Bocek, Antalya metropolitan municipality mayor, said 96 people from 15 cabins had been evacuated, with rescue efforts still ongoing for nine cabins.
The governor’s office named Memis Gumus, a Turkish national, as the man who died in the incident and confirmed those who were injured were transported to hospital.
It initially reported seven people had been injured in the collision, but the number was later revised to 10 by health minister Dr Fahrettin Koca.
Mr Koca wrote on X: “One person died and 10 people were injured as a result of a cable car cabin falling in Antalya’s Konyaaltı district.
“May God have mercy on our citizen who lost his life in the accident, I wish a speedy recovery to our injured, and I wish a speedy recovery to the rescued and waiting to be rescued victims.”
The crash occurred on the final day of the three-day Eid al Fitr public holiday in Turkey – which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and sees families flock to coastal resorts.
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The cable car carries tourists from Konyaalti beach to a restaurant and viewing platform at the summit of the 618-metre Tunektepe peak. It takes approximately nine minutes to go uphill, according to its website.
It is run by Antalya Metropolitan Municipality.
An investigation has been launched by the Antalya prosecutor’s office to determine the cause of the crash.
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