Hanging By A Thread

FEBRUARY 1985 | A freak accident leaves 13 people stranded in mid-air

- Richard Blair

Seven people had just plunged to their deaths and 13 others huddled fearfully in crippled cable-cars suspended high above Singapore's harbour. Any moment they could be torn loose from their frail hold on survival.

As the afternoon drew towards a close on the resort island of Sentosa, hundreds of visitors began making their way to the cable-car station for the 1.75-kilometre trip back to Singapore. It was Saturday, 29 January 1983, and grey clouds were rolling in. Everyone hoped to beat the rain.

At 5.50 p.m., seven members of a family from India boarded a bright-red gondola and were lifted up over the South China Sea. From 54 metres above the jade-coloured waters of Singapore harbour, the view from the bubble-shaped car was breathtaking.

Inside, Manmohan Kaur, 25, her mother-in-law, Pritam Kaur, 60, a sister-in-law, Harbhajan Kaur, 43, and a brother-in-law, Mahinder Singh, 44, looked across the harbour and chatted. Manmohan held Harbhajan’s eight-year-old son, Jagjit. Manmohan’s own sons, Tasvinder, 22 months old, and Balvinder, four years old, watched the tugboats below.

Suddenly, their car began swinging wildly. Manmohan froze as she saw a blue car up ahead oscillate violently, and plunge into the churning waters below.

Further ahead, a red car lurched off the main cable and tumbled into the bay, spilling passengers through an open door.

Manmohan's car somersaulted completely round the main cable. The door popped open. In a lightning move, Mahinder, who was holding Tasvinder, threw the boy away from the door. But he lost his own balance and pitched head-first through the opening. Springing up, Pritam grabbed her grandson. She slipped and plunged out the door with Tasvinder. Manmohan fainted from fear and shock.