02 August 2023 , 18:08
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A terrified backpacker trapped on one of the world's highest cable cars for more than three hours was convinced he would die - and was told he wasn't getting a refund after being rescued.
Haris Minhaj was with a group of tourists when they were stranded 10,000ft up in what should have been a 15-minute ride. The 29-year-old was travelling across south-east Asia and took a ride in a cable car on Mount Fansipan in Sapa, Vietnam.
The cable car ride reaches a height of 3,143 metres offering spectacular views of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. Haris, a civil engineer, from Perth, Australia, was only in the car for a few minutes before it got stuck in the foggy and cloudy heights of the mountain.
He documented his ordeal, which was later posted on TikTok. Keeping a level head in the video, Haris confirmed he did panic when the cable car came to an abrupt halt. He said: "I thought 'am I going to die here? Let’s stay positive and cheer everyone up!
The backpacker was stranded on one of the world's highest cable cars for hours (Haris Minhaj / SWNS)
He kept spirits high with TikTok updates but fear was setting in (Haris Minhaj / SWNS)"I better start filming everything in case we die, so there is a good record of the event." Over the course of the three hours, Haris tried to make friends and even cracked jokes - to one passenger's dismay - as they pleaded "no dark jokes right now!" Eventually, the cable car started moving and made its way back down.
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He climbed to safety and has spoken about the scary incident, which happened in June. Haris added: "After a few hours of waiting, electrical engineers reinstated the power to the cable car with backup power and the descent down was 10 times slower than normal." After exiting the cable car at the bottom, the man said that he didn't get a refund - but "they offered us a cup of tea."
He wasn't given a refund but did at least get a cup of tea (Haris Minhaj / SWNS)Brave tourists were forced to climb out of a cable car using a rope after it got stranded high up in the air above a forest. The travellers were admiring the vistas of the Parwanoo Timber Trail in India’s northern Shivalik mountain ranges today when the cable car got stuck.
The group were left stranded for more than an hour before police and fire teams arrived to help evacuate the cable car. Horrifying video footage shows one of the 11 trapped people lowering himself down from the cable car using a rope.
A second cable car was later used to rescue sightseers who were unable to use the rope to get down, including children and elderly visitors. A total of 15 people were stranded in two cable cars, with four people in the uphill trolley and 11 in the downhill trolley, after a technical problem, according to timesnownews.com.
It's understood all people have now been rescued after four hours, and it's thought most of those stranded were elderly. Police say the situation is still being monitored and that the Airforce had been alerted.