On Tuesday, the army sent in troops from the Special Services Group (SSG) and a helicopter from the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to save eight persons, including six students, who were trapped in a broken cable car 600 feet above earth.
The army reportedly conducted the “most complicated and difficult rescue operation” in the Battagram district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, as reported by the military’s media arm, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
After two wires of a cable car snapped on Tuesday morning in Battagram’s Allai tehsil, leaving eight people, including schoolchildren and a teacher, trapped over 600 feet in the air, the Pakistan Army successfully rescued all of them in an hours-long operation….
At about 7:00 in the morning, high above the Jangri Khwar stream in the verdant Allai valley, the chairlift that carried six students to school broke down.
Shariq Riaz Khattak, a rescue officer, told Reuters that the cable car became stuck halfway across a valley and was dangling at an angle, by a single wire after the others seized.
Hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the ravine to watch the drama develop, and residents utilized mosque loudspeakers to inform neighborhood officials of the emergency.
The province disaster management authority, provincial rescue agencies, and the national disaster management authority were all contacted, according to local officials, after the Hazara Division Commissioner requested assistance.
To hasten the rescue mission, the army initially sent one helicopter, and then another shortly after. After a quick reconnaissance to gauge the situation, the first plane took off.
Two of the gondola’s three wires were severed, making the situation dangerous, an official told Express News. As a precaution, “rescue workers on the ground also started laying down nets.”
According to the officials, the downwash caused by the helicopter rattled the gondola and destabilized it on the first attempt because of how precariously the cable car hung from a single wire.
An official told AFP that earlier in the day, several military helicopters flew sorties while an airman was lowered by a harness with supplies for the stranded civilians.
Strong winds made it difficult for the rescue helicopter to land. Floodlights were set up as night fell, and the rescue mission on the ground lasted for more than 15 hours.
After nearly 12 hours, the dramatic rescue began when a chopper plucked two children to safety. The rescuers then utilized the cable to stop the gondola from tumbling down the valley, much like a zipline.
The two kids were brought to safety by helicopter, one at a time, according to district administrator Shah Fahad. One child was seen being hoisted from the cable car by a helicopter while harnessed, hanging from side to side, and then being brought to safety on the ground.
More than a dozen rescue workers and residents were lined up near the edge of the dark ravine in a video uploaded by a rescue agency official, pulling on a cable until a boy linked to it by a harness reached the hillside safely.
People across the country were glued to their TVs as local news stations broadcasted images of a rescue worker dangling from a helicopter wire next to the tight cabin.
In the dead of night, the dangerous operation was finished. After more than 15 hours, though, everything was resolved. According to the official military statement, “it was a unique operation that required lots of skill.”
The rescue mission was swiftly initiated by a skilled group comprised of Army Aviation and the SSG. The ISPR further noted that the SSG’s sling team and a chopper from the Pakistan Air Force joined the operation later on.
It stated, “The sling team of the SSG safely rescued the people trapped in the chairlift at a height of 600 feet,” referring to the ‘Sling’ aerial operations in which huge loads are transferred in geographically difficult terrains.
“An extremely difficult and complicated operation has been successfully completed by the Pakistan military,” the ISPR reported. Everyone who was stuck has been rescued and relocated to a secure location.
Army Chief of Staff General Asim Munir gave the order for the operation to begin. The SSG’s general officer in charge (GOC) oversaw the operation. According to the ISPR, the local government and residents also stepped up to help with the rescue efforts.
Rescue 1122’s official spokesperson Bilal Faizi confirmed that the rescue mission was successful. Two adults were the last to be saved, he said. The kids were between the ages of 10 and 15.
The rescue was announced on Twitter by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, who said, “Thanks to the efforts of our army personnel, students stuck in the chairlift have started returning to the ground safely.”
I am relieved to hear that all the children have been rescued, Alhamdolillah. Excellent cooperation between the military, rescue teams, district administration, and residents. 🇵🇰
Haq Kakar tweeted praise for the “great team work” of the military, rescue services, district administration, and locals. He had already ordered a safety check of all chairlifts in mountainous regions.
In the northern parts of K-P and Gilgit-Baltistan, passenger cable cars are popular, and they are essential for linking villages and towns in locations where highways cannot be developed.
According to Ali Asghar Khan, headmaster of GHS Battangi Pashto, “the school is located in a mountainous area and there are no safe crossings, so it is common to use the chairlift.”
