All eight passengers stuck in broken cable car in KP’s Battagram rescued after daylong operation

Pakistan Army commandos successfully complete rescue operation

BATTAGRAM/PESHAWAR/RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan armed forces with the help of locals on Tuesday successfully completed the rescue operation of the eight people, including seven students and one teacher trapped in a cable car dangling 900ft (274 metres) over a ravine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district.

Earlier in the evening, five children had been rescued as efforts continue into the night to retrieve rest of the three passengers.

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.

The number of rescued children was confirmed by the military’s media affairs wing, more than 12 hours after the rescue operation began. Four helicopters of the Pakistan Army took part in the rescue operation.

Passengers found themselves stranded hundreds of feet above the ground when two cables of the chairlift broke down early in the morning.

The operation is under way to rescue the people who remain inside the cable car, the ISPR statement added. Deputy Commissioner Battagram Tanveerur Rehman told reporters that “zipline experts and other civil and military experts and local cable operators are on the spot and helping us in the rescue operation”.

Earlier in the day, the armed forces had launched a sling operation to rescue six schoolchildren among eight people, who got stuck midair in a chairlift after its cable broke down in Khyber Pakhunkhwa’s Battagram district early on Tuesday morning.

Another team of the Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) is on the way to the Battagram district. The military’s rapid response force was also on the ground. Earlier, two helicopters belonging to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force arrived at the site for a rescue operation.

Earlier, a military helicopter approached the chairlift with utmost caution as the broken chairlift started dangling from the air that is generated by the chopper’s propellers. A rescuer using a sling threw water bottles and medicines to the stranded people, according to people present at the site.

Two attempts were made to rescue the stranded passengers through a sling operation. However, due to windy conditions and air pressure from the chopper’s propellers created difficulties for the rescuers.

The incident occurred in the Pashto area of Allai tehsil of the Battagram district when the students and teachers headed to school. The chairlift traverses the stream and is used by the locals for transportation across the river. There is no road or bridge on the river in the remote area.

Springing into action, the Hazara Division Commissioner’s Office reached out to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the provincial government’s relief, rehabilitation and settlement department seeking a helicopter on urgent basis to initiate the rescue operation.

A military helicopter reached the spot and surveyed the area for 15 minutes, while a second helicopter was on its way to the area, according to local administration officials.

According to Allai Assistant Commissioner Jawad Hussain, local rescuers from Shangla district, who have experience in conducting similar operations near the Diamer Bhasha dam, had also been called to join the rescue operation.

He said immediately after the incident was reported, a request was sent to the provincial chief secretary for a helicopter to rescue the passengers.

RESCUE 1122: Rescue 1122 teams are also trying to spread rope nets under the chairlift to ensure safe evacuation of the individuals.

According to Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for 1122, two ropes of the chairlift have snapped, leaving the chairlift suspended at a height of hundreds of feet. He noted that 1122 had successfully conducted similar rescue operations in the past.

CARETAKER PM DIRECTS IMMEDIATE RESCUE OPERATION: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar directed the rescue agencies to ensure immediate evacuation of the schoolchildren and teachers stuck in the chairlift in Pashto area of Allai tehsil of Battagram.

The prime minister directed National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and all other relevant rescue agencies to utilize all out resources to ensure safe rescue of the students and teachers. He instructed to ensure safety arrangements on all such chairlifts in hilly areas. The prime minister also directed to immediately close all such chairlifts that were in poor and dilapidated conditions. – Our Reporter and news agencies contributed to this report