All seven children and their teacher have now been rescued from the gondola, writes Pakistan’s interim prime minister, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, on X/Twitter just before 8pm on Tuesday evening.
On the way to school
The accident happened in Battagram, 20 miles north of the capital Islamabad, at seven o’clock on Tuesday morning. The children are between 10 and 16 years old. They were on their way to school when one of two cables in the cable car started smoking.
“Now they are hanging 274 meters above the ground, and the authorities have launched a major rescue operation in the valley”, reported BBC early Tuesday evening.
– The first child has been rescued by helicopter, said a message from the rescue service 1122, which AFP quoted earlier on Tuesday evening.
A little later, the BBC quoted police officer Muhammad Amjad, who confirmed that two children had been rescued.
A large-scale military operation is underway to rescue seven children and an adult trapped in a cable car in Pakistan.
Extremely difficult
Several helicopters came to the area after the accident. Photos from the scene show that the crew was forced down to the carriage. Pakistan’s military later reported that the helicopter operation ended because it was getting dark and too windy. At the same time, they feared that the helicopters’ rotor blades could destabilize the gondola more, a rescue worker added Reuters.
Military experts eventually arrived at the area and had a small platform attached to the cable. They then rescued one by one from the gondola using it.
The rescue operation was very difficult. The crews had to proceed carefully so that the gondola was not further damaged, and in the worst case it came loose completely.
Several helicopters have arrived in the area, but it is currently unclear what is the status of the operation itself.
Ordinary “road” between the mountains
– For God’s sake, help us, says Gulfarez Geo News.
He spoke to the TV channel on the phone, and then told them that they had been stuck for over six hours. They have no water in the cart, and one of the school pupils already has heart problems and was unconscious.
A teacher at the school the children were going to says that around 150 people take the airway every day. Before the accident, the carriage had already completed four trips with school children.
Such cable cars are common in several of Pakistan’s mountainous areas, where the infrastructure is otherwise poor. They are used to transport both food, goods – and people – from one mountain to another.
Many are homemade. Interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar says the authorities must now carry out inspections of all private cable cars, to ensure they are safe.
The mountain peaks in the Allai district are around 4,500 meters above sea level.
Such cable cars are common in several of Pakistan’s mountainous areas, where the infrastructure is otherwise poor.
2023-08-22 18:09:01
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