Visakhapatnam: In a miraculous escape, six tourists, including three women and two children escaped with injuries when the cable car on the Kailasgiri ropeway detached and fell to the ground when it was about to reach the destination at the foothill.
The cable car fell to the ground from a hight of about 6 feet. Witnesses Ch. Madhusudhan and E. Kavita alleged that poor maintenance of the cable car was the reason for the accident. They said one of the bolts had loosed from the cable car, which led to the mishap.
Mr P. Nageswara Rao, a witness, said the six tourists were lucky to escape with injuries as the accident took place when the cable car had reached the end of the ropeway.
The tourists had come to Vizag from Hyderabad, he said. “We are really lucky as we were about to take the ride, but missed while waiting for a friend. Thank god, the cable car didn’t fall from a great depth,” Mr Rajiv Mandal, a tourist from West Bengal, said.
All the injured were admitted to a private hospital and two were complaining of back pain, said VUDA vice-chairman T. Babu Rao Naidu. Their condition is stated to be stable.
He said the accident took place due to loss of balance resulting in the cable car titling towards one side and falling down, but other cable cars on the ropeway were working.
Conveyor and Ropeway Services takes care of the ropeway. The company employees tried to play down the incident. The supervisor could not be traced at the spot.
The ropeway is very popular among the large number of visitors who come to Vizag in January. An estimated 1,400 tourists take a ride on the cable cars.
