A university student and her mother trapped in a cable car during an accident at the Tünektepe Cable Car Facility in the Konyaaltı district of Antalya captured the moment on their phone and shared their experience. Nur Çeken, a student at Eskişehir Osmangazi University in Serik district, explained that they decided to go to the cable car for fun during the holiday. She mentioned that everything was going well at first and they were having fun because it was her first time riding a cable car.
Shortly before the accident, Çeken described how the cable car stopped, causing her mother and cousin to become scared. She mentioned that she was trying to keep them calm and decided to record the moment as a memory. Suddenly, the cable car started shaking, and they fell to the floor as it began to tilt downward and sway from side to side. Çeken and two other passengers also fell to the ground as they hit the cable.
Describing their ordeal in the cable car, Çeken mentioned that they swung for a long time and she thought they were going to fall. She immediately called emergency services and tried to calm her mother and cousin down. The cable car had a malfunction where it would lock itself when it detected an error, which they initially thought was happening. As they hit a rope during the incident, the cabin’s window shattered, causing them to be even more terrified.
After being rescued 5 hours later, Nur Çeken expressed her gratitude to the rescue teams, including AFAD and the fire department, for their heroic efforts. She mentioned that the rescue teams risked their lives to save them. Çeken and her family were still shaken by the experience and were thankful for the efforts of the rescue teams who managed to save them from a potentially life-threatening situation.
Rabia Küçük, the mother of Nur Çeken, shared her experience of experiencing fear of heights after boarding the cable car. She recalled how they were shaken a lot after the accident, and she covered her daughter and nephew to protect them. Küçük expressed her panic and fear of falling onto the rocks but eventually managed to calm down as the shaking subsided. She saw the shattered cable car cabin and the fallen pole right in front of them, prompting them to call emergency services to report the incident.
Küçük emphasized that they remained still to avoid further shaking until they were rescued from the cable car. She expressed her desire to meet the firefighter who rescued them, praising his selfless efforts and dedication to calming them down and assuring them of their safety. Küçük expressed her gratitude to the other passengers who were trapped with them, saying that they had formed a deep bond through this traumatic experience.
The accident, which occurred on April 12th at the cable car facility due to the high volume of visitors during the Ramadan holiday, resulted in the death of lawyer Memiş Gümüş (54) and injuries to several others. The rescue operation lasted nearly 22.5 hours as 174 people in 24 cabins were left hanging in the air due to the system malfunction. Despite the tragic outcome, Nur Çeken and her family were grateful for their rescue and the efforts of the emergency services in saving their lives during the terrifying ordeal.
