Kerala sky dining glitch leaves tourists stranded 150 feet up

Idukki: A family of four, including two children, and a restaurant staffer were left stranded about 150 feet above the ground near Anachal on Friday after the crane lifting a ‘sky-dining’ platform developed a technical snag.

The group remained stuck for over two hours before fire and rescue units from Munnar and Adimali, alerted by media reports and local residents rather than the management, reached the spot around 4 p.m. and brought all five down safely using ropes.

Television visuals showed rescue personnel climbing up on ropes to access the suspended dining platform. Rescuers first evacuated the two children and their mother, followed by the father and the woman staff member, completing the operation by around 4.30 p.m. without any injuries reported.

The staff member later told TV channels there was no panic among those on board, saying she and her colleagues had been trained to manage such emergencies, and added that the family hailed from Kozhikode. Locals said the tourists had been hanging mid-air since roughly 1.30 p.m., raising concerns as time passed and no official help appeared on site.

A fire and rescue official stated that the restaurant operators neither contacted the department nor informed the police, with residents ultimately alerting both agencies. The official said an apparent failure in the crane’s hydraulic system prevented the platform from being lowered, leaving the ‘sky-dining’ unit suspended more than a hundred feet above the ground.

Authorities noted that the ‘sky-dining’ setup is part of an adventure tourism initiative in the hill district, offering diners aerial views from a crane-lifted platform.