About 300 tourists were stranded mid-air Monday after a technical malfunction halted the Gulmarg Gondola cable-car system [1].
The incident sparked a large-scale emergency response in the heights of Jammu & Kashmir, testing the coordination of regional disaster services and military units during a peak travel period.
A joint rescue operation was launched to evacuate the passengers, involving the Jammu & Kashmir Police, the State Disaster Response Force, and the Indian Army [2]. The teams worked to reach the suspended cars and safely bring the tourists back to ground level.
Reports on the number of individuals rescued vary. One report said that 179 tourists were rescued [3], while another source said that 25 tourists were evacuated from the heights [4]. Despite the conflicting numbers regarding the stages of the rescue, officials said all tourists were eventually rescued with no major injuries [5].
The operation concluded around 8 p.m. [5]. The malfunction was attributed to a technical fault within the ropeway system [2].
The Gulmarg Gondola is one of the highest cable car systems in the world, making any mechanical failure a high-risk scenario due to the altitude and steep terrain. The involvement of the Indian Army was necessary to ensure the safety of those trapped in the cabins during the malfunction.
“Around 300 tourists were stranded mid-air on Monday”
This incident highlights the critical dependency of high-altitude tourism infrastructure on rigorous mechanical maintenance. The need for a joint military and police intervention suggests that standard civilian emergency protocols may be insufficient for the extreme terrain of Gulmarg, potentially leading to stricter safety audits for ropeway systems in the region.
