A cable car carrying six children and two adults dangled hundreds of metres above the ground in Pakistan. Photo / AP
A cable car carrying six children and two adults dangled hundreds of metres above the ground in Pakistan. Photo / AP
Army commandos using helicopters and a makeshift chairlift rescued eight people from a broken cable car dangling hundreds of meters above a canyon in a remote part of Pakistan, authorities say.
The six children and two adults became trapped yesterday when one of the cables snapped while the passengers were crossing a river canyon in Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children had been on their way to school.
Because helicopters could not fly after sunset, rescuers used one cable that was still intact to approach the car with the chairlift.
Footage on TV stations showed a child in a harness being pulled to safety. The commandos’ rope could be seen swaying in the wind against the mountainous landscape.
An expert described the helicopter rescues as extremely delicate because the wind generated by the helicopter blades could further weaken the remaining cables holding the car aloft.
A cable car carrying six children and two adults dangled hundreds of meters above the ground in Pakistan. Photo / AP
Relatives of those trapped prayed for more than 12 hours while anxiously watching the risky operation. The rescue also transfixed the country as Pakistanis crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and hospitals.
As the rescued children were handed over to their families, most burst into tears, said Nazir Ahmed, a senior police officer who was in the area where the air and ground rescue mission was launched.
Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the state-run emergency service, said food and water were supplied to the car earlier in the day.
According to Pakistani TV stations, some of those trapped were in contact with their families by cellphone. Authorities said the two adults were consoling the children, who were aged between 11 and 15.
Villagers frequently use cable cars to get around Pakistan’s mountainous regions. But the cars are often poorly maintained, and every year people die or are injured while travelling in them.
Helicopters were sent to attempt to pluck the people from the cable car but only after the group spent six hours precariously suspended 350 meters above ground, according to Taimoor Khan, a spokesman for the disaster management authority.
Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, wrote on X, the service formerly known as Twitter, that he had ordered safety inspections of the country’s cable cars and chairlifts.
Relieved to know that Alhamdolillah all the kids have been successfully and safely rescued. Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people. 🇵🇰 https://t.co/2gPq2Q51Xi
Several helicopters hovered above the scene, and ambulances gathered on the ground.
Tipu Sultan, a retired army brigadier and defence expert, warned that the helicopters themselves could make the situation worse but that the commandos would be well aware of that risk. Khan added that the pilots were flying “carefully”.
In 2017, 10 people were killed when a cable car fell into a ravine hundreds of metres deep in the popular mountain resort of Murree after its cable broke.
Inhabitants of Pakistan's mountainous regions often travel in cable cars. Photo / AP
