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by Mick the Ram
A Turkish court in Antalya has ordered the arrest of five people over their alleged negligence that led to a cable car crash that resulted in one man losing his life and a further ten people being injured.
Passengers plummeted to the ground when one of the 36 cabins collided with a broken pole and burst open, causing the entire system to be immobilised and leaving more than 100 stranded high above the Konyaalti District, in southern Turkey.
As many as 43 passengers had to spend the night suspended, as helicopters with night vision capabilities and special mountaineers remained at the scene.
The cable car is run by the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality and carries tourists from Konyaalti beach to a restaurant and viewing platform at the summit of the 618m (2027ft) Tunektepe peak, some 2,000 feet above sea level.
Floor gave way
The accident occurred when one of the iron poles holding the cable car line broke, which had the effect of smashing into the base of one of the pods and this immediately opened up the floor, causing the eight people inside to fall to the ground.
One of those was identified as Memiş Enes Gümüş, a 54-year old Turkish man who sadly lost his life. The others were six Turkish citizens, including two children and one Kyrgyz national; all were airlifted to hospital.
Nearly 24 hours trapped and suspended
Turkey’s Health Minister, Dr Fahrettin Koca, paid his respects on X, formally Twitter, shortly after the news broke, saying: “May God have mercy on our citizen who lost his life in the accident; I wish a speedy recovery to our injured, and those waiting to be rescued victims”.
Images in the Turkish media showed the battered car swaying from dislodged cables on the side of the rocky mountain, as medics tended the wounded. It happened just as the three-day Eid al-Fitr public holiday marking the end of Ramadam, was winding down.
The last of 174 passengers who had been stranded for nearly 24 hours, dangling over a mountain in the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality owned cable cars, were finally brought to safety the following afternoon, ending their terrifying ordeal.
Witness accounts
Istanbul resident Hatice Polat and her family waited seven hours to be saved. She explained how the power went out and the pod flipped four or five times. “The night was awful, we were very scared, the children passed out,” she said.
Continuing she described it as “torture” recalling how the car was swaying, meaning that they were in constant fear. “I don’t know how we’ll get over this trauma,” she remarked.
Genuine fear for life
Fifty-one-year-old nurse, Rabia Küçük and her daughter, Nur Çeken, were stuck for over 5 hours before being carried to safety. The mother was in no doubt that she would never risk going on anything similar: “I will never ride anything that lifts my feet off the ground again” was her response when asked how the experience had left her feeling.
She told how she had called emergency services as soon as they saw the cabin in front of them break up. “We were worried and prayed ours wouldn’t break.” She explained how their rescuers prepared a pulley system and lowered them down one by one.
In an emotional state she admitted they had genuinely feared they were going to die, before stating: “May God never let anyone experience this again”.
Mayor arrested
A commission, including mechanical and electrical engineers and health and safety experts, were assigned to determine the cause of the incident, which lead to the five arrests.
In total fourteen individuals were referred to the court on suspicions of negligence in maintenance and supervision. Among the five individuals subject to arrest was Mesut Kocagöz, the mayor of another district of the city and former general manager of the operating company.
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