A military helicopter has arrived to rescue eight individuals, including six school children, who found themselves stranded in mid-air due to a chairlift cable malfunction in Allai Tehsil, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district on Tuesday.
Tahir Ayub, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in Mansehra, confirmed the situation and stated that the only viable option for rescuing the stranded passengers is by using a helicopter.
A 20-year-old named Gulfaraz, who is currently on the chairlift, conveyed to Geo News through a phone call that he and other passengers have been stuck for over six hours. He mentioned that a 16-year-old passenger, who has a heart condition, has been unconscious for the past three hours. This teenager was actually en route to the hospital via the chairlift.
Gulfaraz lamented the lack of drinking water on the chairlift and recounted that the initial cable snapped at 7am, followed by another cable breakdown shortly after. He explained that the first cable broke after the chairlift had traveled about a mile. Since early morning, the passengers have been awaiting assistance.
Gulfaraz confirmed that there are eight people aboard the chairlift, with six being students aged between 10 and 16 years old.
The chairlift incident took place at around 8:30am in the Pashto area of Battagram, according to information provided by PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority). Positioned at an elevation of approximately two thousand meters, the chairlift spans a rainwater channel amidst the mountains.
The stranded children were utilizing the chairlift to commute to their school located in the mountainous region of Battagram.
Sonia Shamrose, the district police officer, assured Geo News that every effort was being exerted to rescue the individuals trapped on the chairlift.
Zafar Iqbal, a school teacher, explained that the students were using the chairlift to reach the school. He highlighted that in this region, around 150 children employ the chairlift for school transportation. He also confirmed that two of the cable car’s wires malfunctioned while the chairlift was in mid-air.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar expressed deep concern about the incident, directing both the National Disaster Management Authority and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to urgently facilitate the safe rescue and evacuation of the eight individuals stranded on the chairlift. He further instructed these authorities to conduct thorough safety assessments on all similar privately-owned chairlifts to ensure their safe operation and usage.
