Himachal: Cable car gets stuck mid-air, all 11 passengers rescued

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Eleven people, including two senior citizens, were stranded mid-air in a cable car for around six hours before being rescued at the famed Timber Trail private resort in the state's Solan district.</p>
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They were rescued by deploying another cable car trolley, Deputy Superintendent of Police Pranav Chauhan told the media.</p>
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According to police, the cable car was mid-way when the trolley's shaft developed a snag.</p>
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Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur reached the spot to oversee the rescue operation.</p>
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A video message by the stranded tourists appealed for help saying they had been stuck in the cable car for over two hours, but received no help.</p>
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Anita Garg, one of the rescued passengers, said they remained stuck for five to six hours. Of the eleven, 10 belonged to five families.</p>
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The attraction at the resort on the Shivalik hills is the ride in a cable car to Timber Heights (5,000 ft) on a mountain top.</p>
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This is the second incident involving cable cars in India in less than three months.</p>
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Three people died after two cable cars connecting the Trikut Hills in Jharkhand's Deoghar collided in April due to a technical glitch.</p>
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A similar incident in Timber Trail occurred on October 13, 1992, when the cable broke near the docking station and the cable car carrying 11 passengers slid backwards.</p>
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In the panic, the operator had jumped off the car just as it began its slide and died after falling on a rock.</p>
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Last year, the Indian Air Force in an Instagram post carried three pictures from the time the rescue operation was undertaken. The first photo shows the cable car — with Timber Trail Parwanoo written on it — hanging in the air. In another photo, a tourist could be seen being lifted to the helicopter of the Indian Air Force, while the third one is a group photograph of officers and some rescued passengers.</p>
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"In a unique aerial operation on 14 & 15 Oct 92, #IAF along with @indianarmy.adgpi rescued ten tourists stranded in a suspended cable car at Timber Trail Resorts, Parwanoo.</p>
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"The ops displayed skilled precision flying by the helicopter pilots in challenging conditions and professionalism by para commandos of @indianarmy.adgpi who winched up all ten people safely to the helicopter," said the post.</p>
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Colonel Ivan Joseph Crasto, now a former major in the Indian Army, was at the front and centre of the operation in 1992. Colonel Crasto was lowered from a helicopter, flying above the suspended cable car, to rescue the passengers stuck inside. The operation lasted 48 hours and he was awarded the Kirti Chakra.</p>