7 Killed After Tree Hits Gondola Cable In Gulmarg, India

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Mountain Journey
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Gulmarg, India – On Sunday, June 25, 2017 seven people were killed in a gondola accident in Gulmarg in Kashmir, India. According to DeccanChronicle.com, the incident occurred when strong winds uprooted a pine tree causing it to hit the gondola cable between towers 7 and 8. This led to one cable car “derailing from a pulley” and then falling about 30 meters before hitting the ground. Seven people died and others were injured.

Gulmarg, India | Pixabay Image
Gulmarg, India | Pixabay Image
There were 7 victims including 4 members of the Andraskar family from New Dehli and 3 locals – 2 of them were guides. After the incident, hundreds of tourists were stranded for several hours while authorities conducted a rescue. Eventually authorities were able to restart the gondola.

Authorities will further investigate the situation.

As Asia’s highest and longest cable car project, the Gulmarg Gondola is a popular tourist attraction that offers panoramic views of the Himalaya and world class skiing access. The Gondola opened in May 1998 and was built by the French company Pomagalski. The Gondola operates in two sections – Gulmarg (2600′) to Kongdoori Station to Afarwat Peak at 13,780′

We will try to update this post when more information is available.

Here’s a short video of the Gulmarg Gondola that was posted on YouTube in 2015:

Read more about the Gulmarg Gondola Accident from the following sources: