Rescuers pulled all eight passengers including seven children to safety after they became stranded with their teacher in a cable car high over a ravine in Allai tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram.
The successful completion of the operation was confirmed in a statement issued by Rescue 1122.
Flood lights were installed and a ground-based rescue operation was continuing more than 12 hours after their cable car snagged, leaving it hanging at an angle.
Local people have rescued six passengers including five children from the dangling mid-air cable car after Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) retrieved two children earlier with a chopper before calling off the aerial operation due to bad light.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the general commanding officer of the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) was leading the rescue operation.
Locals in #Battagram continue the #RescueOperation for the children still stuck in the #chairlift. pic.twitter.com/rM7j98qfPU
— Hamza Azhar Salam (@HamzaAzhrSalam) August 22, 2023
Video of the second boy being saved. Locals and Rescue 1122 at the scene. #Battagram pic.twitter.com/soajXxRkWt
— Asfandyar Bhittani (@AsfandBhittani) August 22, 2023
The students have been stuck in the cable car since 7 a.m. (0200 GMT) when they were travelling to school in a remote mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 km (125 miles) north of Islamabad, officials said.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that a cable had broken in the lift service and two army helicopters had been dispatched for a rescue operation after attempts at fixing the fault had been unsuccessful.
The cable car became stranded half way across a ravine, about 274 metres (900 feet) above ground, and was dangling by a single cable after the other snapped, Shariq Riaz Khattak a rescue official at the site said.
The rescue mission is complicated due to gusty winds in the area and the fact the helicopters’ rotor blades risk further destabilising the lift, he said.
The military helicopters are both hovering near the stranded cable car and so far two attempts at a rescue have been aborted. A third will be launched shortly, he said, adding that a cable 30 feet above the cable car is impeding the operation.
Commandos hanging from a helicopter had managed to get close to the car, but were unable to rescue those on board, with sundown expected at about 7 p.m.
