‘Sky dining’ experience in Coimbatore goes awry as 20 people get stuck mid-air

Twenty people got stuck mid-air after a hydraulic lifting platform they boarded for a ‘sky dining’ experience in a private amusement exhibition at Codissia grounds in Coimbatore developed a technical snag late on Tuesday. The Fire and Rescue Services personnel rescued them using an aerial ladder platform.

According to the Fire and Rescue Services, 12 men, five women and three children were on board the sky-lifting platform of the exhibition, which offers bird’s eye view, including an artificial waterfall.

The Peelamedu fire station received an alert on the incident at 10.40 p.m. and a team rushed to the spot. An aerial ladder platform from Coimbatore south (headquarter) station was also brought to the location.

“Those stuck mid-air were rescued in multiple batches using the aerial lifting platform. The operation continued past midnight,” said P. Annadurai, District Fire Officer, Tiruppur, who was in-charge of Coimbatore on Tuesday.

Another officer involved in the operation said that the fire station received the call around an hour after the sky dining platform developed the technical snag. The operators attempted to rectify it.

“A woman called us and informed us about the incident. She said they were stuck in the platform for about an hour,” said the officer. 

Peelamedu Inspector R. Arjunkumar said the police permission for the show was given after the organiser submitted all requisite approvals from the Public Works Department (PWD). We have instructed the organiser not to operate the sky dining platform until a PWD engineer approves it again after an inspection, he said.