Tourists Safely Back on Ground
Danxia Mountain Cable Car Traps Over 100 Tourists
Sudden Malfunction Causes Incident; Tourists Rescued by 20:30 on March 11 with Escorts from Firefighters
On the evening of March 11, a cable car in the Danxia Mountain Scenic Area in Renhua County, Shaoguan City, suddenly malfunctioned, trapping about 130 tourists. After more than an hour of rescue operations by firefighters, all those trapped were safely brought down the mountain. No injuries were reported in the incident.
At 18:54 on March 11, the Danxia Mountain cable car suddenly broke down, leaving around 130 tourists from Zhongshan and Zhuhai stranded at the mountaintop, including seniors over 70 years old and a child under one year of age.
It was already dark at the time, with poor visibility at night and the mountain paths rugged and steep, making it nearly impossible to hike down on foot. In addition, the temperature at the summit was relatively low, even dropping below zero degrees Celsius at night.
The Renhua County Fire Brigade promptly responded to the alarm and rushed to the scene for the rescue operation. Around 19:00, firefighters arrived and discussed the situation with the cable car staff, devising two rescue plans: using the cable car’s emergency device to transport firefighters and supplies up to the summit to calm the stranded tourists, or forming a rescue team to hike up the mountain with supplies. While the firefighters were deliberating which plan to execute, at 19:20, the cable car equipment was repaired and restored to normal operation. The firefighters immediately loaded rescue supplies onto the cable car cabins and rode up the mountain to conduct the rescue. At 19:25, the firefighters reached the summit, where the stranded tourists had already been stuck for half an hour.
The firefighters then organized the tourists to descend the mountain. By 20:30, the last group of tourists had been safely escorted down by the firefighters, marking the completion of the rescue. By 21:00, around 130 tourists had safely left the scenic area by vehicle.