A team of Pakistan Army’s Special Services Group (SSG) has kicked off a rescue operation to save eight people, including six schoolchildren, who were left stranded mid-air after the cable of a chairlift broke in Allai Tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Battagram district on Tuesday.
Helicopters of Pakistan Army Aviation and Pakistan Air Force are participating in the rescue operation along with the SSG troops.
The open chair lift became stranded halfway across a ravine and was hanging by a single cable after the other snapped, Shariq Riaz Khattak a rescue official at the site told Reuters.
The rescue mission is complicated due to gusty winds in the area and the fact the helicopter's rotor blades risk further destabilising the lift, he said.
One chopper has already conducted surveillance and then returned, and another one would be sent shortly, he added.
According to Geo News, the chairlift started shaking as the Pakistan Army’s rescue helicopter approached it and there is a risk of the chairlift losing balance.
Other options to conduct the rescue operation, which is being deemed risky, were under consideration including a sling operation by the SSG team.
Wing Commander (retd) Asim Nawaz said the sling operation should be started at the earliest.
Sling operations are aerial operations where large loads are moved in geographically difficult terrains.
“There is a possibility of bad weather in this area. It is better if the helicopter is 60 to 80 feet away from the chairlift,” he said.
Speaking about the operation, the former military officer said that a commando will approach closer to the chairlift during the sling operation.
"A chairlift stuck at a height of about 900 ft midway due to breakage in one of its cable in Battagram. 8 persons including 6 children [are] stranded," the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a statement.
The statement said NDMA has provided coordination support to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
"After coordination Pak Army helicopter has been despatched for [the] rescue operation," it added.
The incident was confirmed by Mansehra Deputy Inspector General of Police Tahir Ayub who said there is no option but to rescue the stranded passengers through a copter.
The cable hangs in the middle of a deep ravine surrounded by stunning mountains, where cable cars are frequently used to connect remote villages and towns.
Syed Hammad Haider, a senior KP provincial official, said the cable car was hanging about 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the ground.
"We have requested the KP government to provide a helicopter because the relief activity is not possible without the help of a helicopter," he said.
'Passengers stuck for several hours'
Gulfaraz, a 20-year-old who is currently present on the chairlift, told Geo Newsover phone that he and other passengers have been stuck for more than six hours.
He shared that a 16-year-old passenger, who suffers from a heart condition, has been unconscious for the last three hours. Gulfraz shared that the teenager was going to the hospital through the chairlift.
“We don't even have drinking water in the chairlift,” he complained.
Gulfaraz said the first wire broke at 7am while another cable broke down soon after.
“The first cable broke down after the chairlift travelled a mile,” the 20-year-old said, adding that the passengers have been waiting for help since early morning.
Gulfaraz confirmed that there are eight people in the chairlift of which six are students.
The ages of students are between 10 to 16 years old, he said.
Chairlift located at 2 thousand meters
According to details released by PDMA, the chairlift incident occurred at 8:30am in Pashto area of Battagram.
The chairlift is located at a height of about two thousand meters and passes through rainwater channel in the middle of the mountains, the PDMA added.
The children, who have been stranded, were using the chair lift to get to school in the mountainous area of Battagram.
Sonia Shamrose, the district police officer, told Geo News that all efforts were being made to rescue the people trapped in the chairlift.
Zafar Iqbal, a school teacher, said that the students were coming to the school by the chairlift.
“The chairlift is used to go from one place to another. In this area, 150 children come to school by chairlift,” he said, confirming that two wires of the cable car broke down mid-air.
Caretaker PM orders inspection of all chairlifts
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has termed the incident alarming, directing the NDMA and PDMA to "urgently ensure safe rescue and evacuation of the 8 people stuck in the chairlift".
"I have also directed the authorities to conduct safety inspections of all such private chairlifts and ensure that they are safe to operate and use," he added.
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