In his statement about the accident on his social media account, Koca made the following statements:
“17 people injured in the cable car accident in Antalya’s Konyaaltı district, in which one person died, were transferred to hospitals and their treatment continues. 68 people who were trapped in the cabins and were rescued stated that they did not need hospital transportation after the health checks performed in the ambulance“.
Turkish daily ‘Hurriyet’ writes that 171 people were stranded in 24 cabins after one of the pylons supporting the Sarısu cable car line, which came into service in 2017, collapsed on Friday evening at around 6pm and struck one of the cabins.
The head of the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), Okay Memiş, stated, “Our efforts are still underway. So far, we’ve evacuated 128 people in 16 cabins.
“The evacuation of 43 citizens in 8 cabins is underway“, he said.
“Rescue efforts to save our citizens trapped in the cable car still continue uninterruptedly. Four helicopters belonging to the Coast Guard Command are actively involved in the rescue efforts“, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
Yerlikaya also reported that the rescue operations involved 543 search and rescue personnel, 7 helicopters, 1 military cargo plane, 108 vehicles, 6 ambulances, and drones.
“For today, there are problems with flights due to the wind. We hope to finish our operations before it gets dark in the meantime“, Memiş stated today.
An investigation into the accident has been opened by the Turkish Ministry of Justice.
