A Turkish court has sentenced eight people to prison over a cable car accident in the southern resort city of Antalya in 2024 that killed one person and injured seven others, while acquitting four defendants including a district mayor, the DHA news agency reported.
The Antalya 6th High Criminal Court on Monday handed down prison sentences ranging from three years, four months to seven years, six months for “causing death and injury by negligence” in connection with the April 12, 2024, accident in the Konyaaltı district.
The accident occurred when a gondola struck a support pole and broke apart, causing passengers to fall onto the rocks below. The system subsequently shut down, leaving 174 people stranded in cable cars suspended high above the ground, some for nearly 23 hours before rescue teams evacuated them.
There were 12 defendants in the trial, most of them employees or officials linked to ANET, a subsidiary of the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality that operates the cable cars in the Mediterranean city.
Among those acquitted of all charges was Kepez Mayor Mesut Kocagöz of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who previously served as chairman of ANET.
The court ruled that Kocagöz did not have direct authority over the operation at the time of the incident.
Kocagöz’s arrest after the accident was described by his party as politically motivated. He spent about two months in custody before being released in June 2024.
Kocagöz told prosecutors at the time that he had resigned from ANET in November 2023 to be able to run in the local elections in March 2024.
He said the routine and heavy maintenance work of the cable car system was done regularly during the time he served as the company’s chairman and that reports about the maintenance work are available and will be submitted to the court.
The mayor also said he has no responsibility for the maintenance work conducted after he parted ways with the company.
The court also sentenced four defendants to seven-and-a-half years in prison, while four others received shorter sentences.
All defendants were acquitted of a separate charge of “endangering traffic safety by negligence” due to lack of criminal elements.
The cable car line carries visitors from Konyaaltı Beach to a restaurant and viewing terrace atop the 618-meter-high Tünektepe hill, a popular tourist destination. The incident took place during the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
During the final hearing, defendants denied responsibility. Some argued they lacked operational authority, while others said existing technical issues predated their roles.