Commandos pluck 5 children from dangling cable car in Pakistan; 3 more people wait for rescue

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Army commandos using helicopters and a makeshift chairlift rescued five children from a broken cable car suspended hundreds of meters (feet) above a canyon Tuesday in a remote part of Pakistan, the military and an emergency service spokesman said.

One more child and two adults still waited to be rescued after night fell.

The eight people became trapped earlier in the day when one of the cables snapped while the eight passengers were crossing a river canyon in Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children had been on their way to school.

Because helicopters could not fly after sunset, rescuers shifted from an airborne effort to a risky operation that involved using one cable that was still intact to approach the car with the chairlift.

Footage on TV stations showed a child in a harness being pulled to safety. The commandos' rope could be seen swaying in the wind against the mountainous landscape.

An expert described the helicopter rescues as extremely delicate because the wind generated by the helicopter blades could further weaken the remaining cables holding the car aloft.

Relatives of those trapped prayed for more than 12 hours while anxiously watching the operation unfold. The rescue also transfixed the country as Pakistanis crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and hospitals.

As the rescued children were handed over to their families, most burst into tears, said Nazir Ahmed, a senior police officer who was present in the area where the air and ground rescue mission was launched.

“Everyone was praying for this moment,” he said.

Ahmed told The Associated Press that three more children were rescued after nightfall.

Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the state-run emergency service, said the remaining two adults and a child would soon be rescued. He said food and water was supplied to the car earlier in the day.

According to Pakistani TV stations, some of those trapped were in contact with their families by cellphone. Authorities said the two adults were consoling the children, who were between the ages of 11 and 15.

Villagers frequently use cable cars to get around Pakistan’s mountainous regions. But the cars are often poorly maintained, and every year people die or are injured while traveling in them.

Helicopters were sent to attempt to pluck the people from the cable car but only after the group spent six hours precariously suspended 350 meters (1,150 feet) above ground, according to Taimoor Khan, a spokesman for the disaster management authority.

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, wrote on X, the service formerly known as Twitter, that he had ordered safety inspections of the country's cable cars and chairlifts.

Several helicopters hovered above the scene, and ambulances gathered on the ground.

Tipu Sultan, a retired army brigadier and defense expert, warned that the helicopters themselves could make the situation worse but that the commandos would be well aware of that risk. Khan added that the pilots were flying “carefully.”

In 2017, 10 people were killed when a cable car fell into a ravine hundreds of meters (feet) deep in the popular mountain resort of Murree after its cable broke.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad.