Six children and two adults have been trapped in a cable car after a cable snapped at around 900 feet (274 meters) over a mountainous region in the country’s northwest. The children were travelling to school in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when the incident occurred. Rescue operations are underway and it is being conducted by the armed forces’ special unit.
Allai Assistant Commissioner Jawad Hussain said two helicopters belonging to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force are at the site, Dawn reported. "For God's sake help us," Gulfraz, a man stuck in the cable car, told Pakistan television channel Geo News by phone.
A helicopter reached the spot earlier but left without conducting any operations. The residents used mosque loudspeakers to alert officials across the valley. "The cable car is suspended by a single rope. There are a minimum of eight occupants primarily consisting of schoolchildren," Abdul Basit Khan, a senior official for the provincial rescue agency, told AFP.
The cable car has been suspended for over four hours. Cable cars are frequently used to connect remote villages and towns. "We have requested the KP government to provide a helicopter because the relief activity is not possible without the help of a helicopter," Syed Hammad Haider, a senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial official told AFP. Rescue teams are reportedly trying to spread nets under the cable car.
