All people saved in Pakistan cable car rescue
Six children and two adults were trapped on the cable car when one of the two supporting cables snapped on Tuesday
All eight people who were trapped in a cable car over a valley in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have now been rescued. It follows a 12-hour operation which involved military rotorcraft and zipline experts.
The cable car became stuck after one of the vehicle’s supporting cables snapped at approximately 07:00 hrs on 22 August.
The cable car, which links the remote villages of Jangri and Batangi, was being used by two adults and six children between the ages of 10 and 16 at the time of the incident. One of the children – a teenage boy – reportedly has a heart condition, and was unconscious for several hours while onboard.
After locals reported the crisis to officials, it took approximately four hours for the first rescue helicopter to arrive.
Several initial attempts to reach the car – which involved hoist personnel being lowered from helicopters – were disrupted by high winds. Food and water supplies were successfully delivered, however. One of the trapped children was later rescued by helicopter, but aerial operations were later suspended for the night.
Rescue operations continued with the help of zipline experts, who were then successful in extracting the remaining seven people after dark.
Further south, the Indian Air Force supported flood rescue efforts in the state of Himachal Pradesh earlier this month.