An elderly woman died after the ropeway trolley in which she was seated hit some rocks several feet below at the famous religious shrine of Dongargarh in the district on Monday.
“The woman identified as Bindu Mishra (68) wife of Brijbhusan Mishra native of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, according to doctors suffered a massive cardiac arrest following the incident at the district hospital which caused her death,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Sundarraj P said.
Three more people seated in the same trolley were also injured but their condition was reported to be out of danger, he said.
According to the police, a few days back Bindu Mishra had reached Raipur to meet her relatives living in the city. Bindu along with her husband and two relatives had then gone to Dongargarh to offer puja at the shrine.
Around 1:30 pm, a section of ropeway between the rope-towers broke down that caused sudden fall of the trolley in which the victims were sitting. The trolley hit the rocks below. The drop was not very steep so persons in trolley were saved from fatal injuries or spot death, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Dongargarh Ajit Yadav informed.
The SDOP further informed that eight trolleys run on two ropeways from ground to the hill-top carrying devotees. Four trolleys each run on both the ropes. Following the incident, the trolley operation on ropeways had to be stopped due to which about 21 persons were trapped in those trolleys mid-way giving anxious moments to their friends and relatives below. The persons trapped in trolleys were later on safely rescued, SDOP the said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Raman Singh while expressing grief over the tragic incident has declared assistance of `4 lakh for the next kin of victim woman.