South Africa's majestic Table Mountain. (Photo / 123RF)

Two dead and hundreds stranded on South Africa's Table Mountain

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World

Author: AP,
Publish Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2018, 12:29PM

In a dramatic operation, emergency responders at South Africa's Table Mountain descended on ropes from a cable car to save an injured climber and recover the bodies of two male climbers.

The tricky rescue on Tuesday morning (local time) left hundreds of tourists stranded while it took place.

One of the two who died after falling from a cliff was a Japanese citizen, with the other reported to be a local guide. A third climber, a Japanese woman, was injured in the accident.

Wilderness Search & Rescue #TableMountain rescuer doing cpr on patient on cliff pic.twitter.com/lPiyoWlj6T
— Hanti Otto (@HantiO) January 1, 2018

The iconic, rugged mountain overlooking Cape Town is a major tourist destination and the occasional scene of search and rescue operations because of hiking or climbing mishaps, but the effort to help the trio was among the more complex.

Cable cars were halted while the operation took place, stranding hundreds on the mountain for hours. When they could be restarted, the cable cars ferried people down in a process that ended well after midnight.

On social media, images have circulated of the cliff-side operation.

#TableMountain #MountainRescue operation #WSAR
(CPT photographer Robert Miller credit @WSARWesternCape @WCHEMS @TableMountainNP pic.twitter.com/4a7YHoqmzI
— Mountain Safety (@SafetyMountain) January 1, 2018

A local climbing guide and two Japanese clients were involved in the accident, said South African National Parks spokeswoman Merle Collins.

The climbers were secured with ropes just below the cable car station at the top of Table Mountain when they fell, possibly after one of them lost their footing and dragged the others down, said Wilderness Search and Rescue spokesman Johan Marais.

Still attached to the ropes, two of them ended up partly supported by a ledge on the cliff face, and tourists in a cable car saw one administering CPR to the other.

A rescue helicopter flew to the area, but Wilderness Search and Rescue members concluded that it would be easier to reach the climbers by lowering themselves on ropes from an opening in the floor of a cable car positioned above the accident site.

Emergency responders descended on ropes from a cable car to recover the bodies of two male climbers, including a Japanese citizen, who died after falling from a cliff. (Photo / AP)

After determining that two climbers were dead, they transferred the injured survivor to a harness that was raised into the cable car, said Marais, who was not at the scene.

"It was difficult to communicate with her because of the language difference," said Marais, who described the climber's condition as stable. She was taken to a Cape Town hospital. The bodies of her companions were recovered after the stranded tourists were taken off the mountain.

The climbers were traversing a mountain route called Arrow Final. About 30 volunteers were involved in the rescue and recovery operation.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, a helicopter was extracting a hiker who suffered an injury on Table Mountain, according to Marais.

Cape Town residents "tend to think of Table Mountain as part of their backyard or something in their front garden," he said. "It's not that. It's an actual big mountain with large rocks and all the things that go with a mountain."