1 dead, dozens trapped after cable car crash in Turkey

April 13 (UPI) -- One person is dead, at least 10 more were injured and dozens are trapped high above ground on Saturday after an accident on a mountainous cable car in Southern Turkey.

Officials said a cable car cabin collided with a broken pole around 5:23 p.m. local time Friday in the Turkish province of Antalya, causing its occupants to fall onto the mountain below and leaving 24 other cabins high stranded above the ground.

More than 600 search and rescue personnel, eight helicopters and a military cargo plane were dispatched to help, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement on X.

Video showed a helicopter hovering high above the stranded cable cars, hanging over a sheer rock face.

Yerlikaya confirmed the cabin that fell plunged into a rocky area on the mountain, killing a 54-year-old man. Two young children were among those injured.

The highest peak of the mountain is 2,027 feet.

Turkey's Interior Ministry said 112 people had been rescued as of Friday night. Yerlikaya reported Saturday the remaining people had been rescued.

The incident happened in Konyaaltı, a small resort municipality in Antalya covering around 211 square miles, with a population of around 204,000 people.

The coastal resort is typically busy, as Friday marked the final day of a three-day public holiday in Turkey marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The province's chief prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the incident to determine what exactly led up to the collapse, according to Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc.