Tweet
WINGS OF TATEV EMERGENCY: COMPANY SAYS AERIAL TRAMWAY WORK DISRUPTION CAUSED BY THUNDER STORM
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
29.10.12 | 11:21
A company managing the aerial tramway in a popular tourist site in
southern Armenia said bad weather conditions interfered in the normal
operation of the facility that resulted in dozens of passengers being
stuck in two cars 18 meters above the ground for several hours Sunday
afternoon.
The evacuation of all 41 passengers on the Wings of Tatev tramway
cars in Halidzor in southern Armenia was conducted by a Ministry of
Emergency Situations (MES) rescue team together with TaTever (Wings
of Tatev) company personnel. None of them was reported hurt after
spending more than three hours in suspense.
An MES statement said among the passengers were 18 women and seven
children; 17 of the passengers were foreign citizens.
The TaTever company later also issued a statement, saying that the
cableway facility stopped its operation not because of a technical
fault but because it had been programmed to do so in case of
unfavorable weather conditions.
An abrupt change of weather with subsequent thunderstorm was observed
in the Syunik province of Armenia that day.
The company said that all passengers had been provided with temporary
accommodation, food and psychological aid. Police and ambulance
service workers were also on standby to render assistance if necessary,
it said.
This is not the first time an emergency is reported on the
5.7-kilometer-long aerial tramway that was inaugurated in 2010 and
claims to be the longest similar facility in the world.
On October 24, 2010, about a week after the launch of the cableway,
some 50 passengers spent about 40 minutes in suspense in the cars
above the gorge. One of the passengers then was Syunik Governor Surik
Khachatryan. The company then blamed the suspension on technical
faults.
The TaTever cable car travels at a speed of 37 kilometers per hour
and a one-way journey takes 11 minutes. At its highest point over
the gorge, the car travels 320 m (1,050 ft) above ground level.
From: A. Papazian
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
29.10.12 | 11:21
A company managing the aerial tramway in a popular tourist site in
southern Armenia said bad weather conditions interfered in the normal
operation of the facility that resulted in dozens of passengers being
stuck in two cars 18 meters above the ground for several hours Sunday
afternoon.
The evacuation of all 41 passengers on the Wings of Tatev tramway
cars in Halidzor in southern Armenia was conducted by a Ministry of
Emergency Situations (MES) rescue team together with TaTever (Wings
of Tatev) company personnel. None of them was reported hurt after
spending more than three hours in suspense.
An MES statement said among the passengers were 18 women and seven
children; 17 of the passengers were foreign citizens.
The TaTever company later also issued a statement, saying that the
cableway facility stopped its operation not because of a technical
fault but because it had been programmed to do so in case of
unfavorable weather conditions.
An abrupt change of weather with subsequent thunderstorm was observed
in the Syunik province of Armenia that day.
The company said that all passengers had been provided with temporary
accommodation, food and psychological aid. Police and ambulance
service workers were also on standby to render assistance if necessary,
it said.
This is not the first time an emergency is reported on the
5.7-kilometer-long aerial tramway that was inaugurated in 2010 and
claims to be the longest similar facility in the world.
On October 24, 2010, about a week after the launch of the cableway,
some 50 passengers spent about 40 minutes in suspense in the cars
above the gorge. One of the passengers then was Syunik Governor Surik
Khachatryan. The company then blamed the suspension on technical
faults.
The TaTever cable car travels at a speed of 37 kilometers per hour
and a one-way journey takes 11 minutes. At its highest point over
the gorge, the car travels 320 m (1,050 ft) above ground level.
From: A. Papazian