Nearly 300 tourists stranded after Gulmarg Gondola malfunction

Nearly 300 tourists were stranded midair for hours on Monday after a technical malfunction brought the Gulmarg Gondola cable car system to a sudden halt in the popular ski resort of Jammu and Kashmir. The incident occurred around noon, leaving 65 cabins suspended above steep mountainous terrain, prompting a large scale multiagency rescue operation that continued into the evening.

Authorities reported that the malfunction affected both phases of the cable car service, which operates from Gulmarg to Kongdoori and onward to the Apharwat ridge. Many of the stranded passengers were families with children and elderly tourists, and some cabins were hanging at heights of nearly 500 feet. Visuals from the scene showed passengers waiting inside the enclosed cabins as rescue teams worked to reach them.

A coordinated response was launched involving personnel from the Indian Army, including the Chinar Corps and the Army’s High Altitude Warfare School, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the State Disaster Response Force, the National Disaster Response Force, and local civil administration officials. Helicopters were not used; instead, trained rescuers employed specialized mountain techniques to...