Pakistan cable car – live: 15-year-old survivor says dramatic rescue gives him ‘a second life’
Rescuers pulled those trapped along zipwire by hand after military helicopters stood down for night
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Your support makes all the difference.A student who was stuck in a cable car suspended over a ravine in northwest Pakistan has spoken out about the 15-hour ordeal.
“I thought it was my last day and I will be no more,” Attaullah Shah was quoted as saying by AFP.
The 15-year-old, one of seven students travelling on the chairlift when one of its cables snapped, expressed gratitude for having survived the incident. “God has granted me a second life,” he said.
The families of the students rescued from the broken-down cable car erupted with joy as the last child was freed late last night, an official said.
Night fell as the first of the students was rescued and it was several more hours until the cable car was finally cleared of passengers.
“People kept praying until the last person was rescued,” emergency official Waqar Ahmad told AFP. “Once everyone had been rescued, the families started crying with joy and hugging each other.”
Pakistan’s government confirmed the rescue mission was complete some 15 hours after the car first got stuck, and declared inspections of cable cars will be carried out across the country.
Full report: Eight trapped in cable car dangling 900ft over ravine saved in dramatic rescue
A dramatic rescue effort has seen eight people pulled to safety after they all became trapped inside a cable car left dangling at least 900 feet (274m) above a ravine in Pakistan.
Here is our full report on the rescue:
Four rescued as army races to save children trapped in cable car dangling over ravine
In total, six children and two adults were trapped after a wire snapped
Cable car accident six years ago left 10 dead
The anxieties of those onboard the cable car, rescuers, and those watching on from the side of the valley and at television screens across the country were likely compounded by the fact that it was not the first such incident to have occurred in Pakistan.
Ten people were killed when a cable car lift installed by local villagers in the popular mountain resort of Murree broke and fell into a ravine hundreds of feet deep in 2017.
Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, said on Tuesday as the rescue was ongoing that he had “directed the authorities to conduct safety inspections of all such private chairlifts and ensure that they are safe to operate and use”.
Where is Battagram?
The cable car is situated in Battagram, a mountainous part of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Pakistan president joins calls for safety review of all local chairlifts
Pakistan’s president, Arif Alvi, has lent his name to calls for authorities to “conduct a comprehensive survey of all such local chairlifts to ensure the safety of our people in future”.
Former PM praises locals for help with rescue effort
The former prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, has praised locals for their “unity and yearning for humanity” after their help in rescuing those trapped in the cable car.
“It was a difficult, patient and nerve-racking rescue operation with many difficulties but the professionalism and passion with which the entire effort was carried out is a proud and enviable example,” he wrote on Twitter/X.
“The way the local population helped the administration is a great example of fraternity, brotherhood, unity and yearning for humanity for which I pay tribute to the local people,” Mr Sharif added.
And he joined others in warning that the incident is “a lesson that immediate attention should be paid to the development of infrastructure and education of children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially in such areas. The chairlifts in the concerned areas should be inspected and repaired urgently.”
Cable car used by dozens each day
The cable car is used by local villagers to cross the river and shorten the distance to nearby schools, government offices and other businesses.
It is believed that dozens take the chair lift daily, thanks to a lack of transport options in the area.
The BBC reports that there is no road infrastructure or basic facilities in the mountainous area where the incident unfolded, on a cable car – built by a local resident with permission from local authorities, and known as Dolly – which had reduced a two-hour walk to a four-minute journey across the ravine.
Watch the moment Pakistan cable car rescue team winch child to safety
15-hour ordeal comes to a successful end with all eight rescued from the dangling cable car
Eight individuals, seven of them students, were successfully rescued following hours of being stranded at an elevation of several hundred feet above a secluded valley in Pakistan.
Interim prime minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar wrote on X: “Relieved to know that all the kids have been successfully and safely rescued. Great teamwork by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people.”
Following the ordeal, Pakistan’s president called for a “comprehensive survey” of cable cars. “I would also urge that administration must conduct a comprehensive survey of all such local chairlifts to ensure safety of our people in future,” Arif Alvi said in a post on X.
Emotions high as children handed over to their families
As the children were handed over to their families, most burst into tears, said Nazir Ahmed, a senior police officer.
“Everyone was praying for this moment,” he said. He said villagers hugged the commandos and other rescuers.
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.
Students trapped in cable car incident receive exam results
Among the passengers trapped in the suspended cable car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district, three of the children who were part of the group found out they had successfully cleared their Class 9 examinations after their rescue, local media said.
With the results of the exams – for students aged roughly 15 – announced on Tuesday, three of the students received the news that they had graduated to Class 10.
Local media reports identified them by their first names — Attaullah, Niaz Mohammad and Usama. The three are students at Government High School Batangi Pashto Alai, Geo TV reported.
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