Terming the ropeway accident in Jharkhand's Deoghar district as "rare and unfortunate", the state tourism development corporation said on Tuesday that the company hired to operate the system had negligible record of slip-ups or lapses, and the contract was given to them after a performance assessment.

No official of the Damodar Ropeway and Infra Limited (DRIL), which operated and maintained the ropeway, however, responded to PTI queries.