27 June,2017 08:00 AM IST | Srinagar | Agencies
The management of the company that operates the gondola cable car service in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday blamed an act of God for the Sunday tragedy, which killed seven people, including four members of a Delhi family
Rescue efforts underway at the accident site
The management of the company that operates the gondola cable car service in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday blamed "an act of God" for the Sunday tragedy, which killed seven people, including four members of a Delhi family. Riyaz Ahmad, general manager of the project, said there the standard operating procedure (SOP) had not been violated on Sunday as alleged by some.
Delhi residents Jayant Anderaskar, his wife and their two children were killed in the accident that also left three locals dead. Another 150 people who were in other cable cars were saved.
Gulmarg. Pic/J&Kâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Police, Twitter
"What happened yesterday was a great misfortune because of an act of God. It was a bright day, but suddenly a gust of strong wind uprooted a pine tree that hit another large pine tree, whose branch fell on the cable derailing it from the pulley. The system stopped operation and we found out that the cable had been derailed between the fifth and sixth towers. After getting derailed, the cabins in this sector started swinging dangerously but no cabin crashed to the ground," he insisted. "What caused the deaths of our guests was the shattering of glass. After the glass shattered, the occupants were thrown out of the cabin because of the way the car was swinging," he said.
