People stuck on Shymbulak cable car during blackout in Almaty – video

Passengers experienced a harrowing 1.5-hour ordeal when the Shymbulak cable car in Almaty malfunctioned, leaving them stranded mid-journey. The incident occurred around 3:01 PM on August 14, during a significant power outage that affected various districts across Almaty and the surrounding region. Eyewitnesses reported that the cable car stopped multiple times before halting completely halfway to their destination. Resort staff eventually provided bottled water and assessed passengers' well-being upon arrival. The cause of the widespread power disruption is attributed to a failure on 500 kV overhead power lines owned by KEGOC, resulting in a load shed of approximately 300 MW. The outage impacted numerous districts in the Almaty Region and several areas within the city itself. In Almaty, the blackout caused traffic lights to fail, leading to communication disruptions and severe traffic jams, necessitating the deployment of traffic controllers at intersections. As of publication, the Shymbulak resort's press service had not yet responded to requests for comment.

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We stopped a couple of times along the way for about 10-15 minutes. In the end, the trip took about 1.5 hours. Upon arrival, staff provided bottled water and asked if everyone was alright or if anyone needed medical assistance.