After hours of drama, all occupants of a cable car in Pakistan have been rescued. The gondola got stuck at a height of 300 meters after steel cables broke. People across the country followed the rescue on the screens.
In Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a dramatic rescue mission has freed all occupants from a cable car gondola. Six children and two adults were rescued late Tuesday evening (local time), the civil protection department confirmed to the dpa news agency. The gondola was only hanging on a steel cable after one of the supporting steel cables broke in the morning.
“I was relieved to learn that all the children were successfully and safely rescued. Great teamwork from the military, rescue services, district administration and local people,” Acting Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Gondola at a height of 300 meters
After dramatic hours, special forces were able to rescue the first children from the gondola at a height of 300 meters. The military helicopters had initially supplied those affected with water and medicine. Hundreds of people, including relatives, gathered not far from the scene of the accident.
A 20-year-old told the Pakistani TV station Geo TV from the gondola the dramatic hours. “We don’t even have drinking water,” he complained. A teenager with heart problems collapsed and passed out for several hours. He was on his way to a clinic in the morning.
Volunteers continue the rescue operation independently
With nightfall, the helpers had interrupted their mission. The police also cited bad weather in the mountainous region in the north of the country as a reason. Volunteers from the region continued the rescue operation themselves after consultation with the military and freed three more children. Residents in large parts of the country followed the rescue operation. Videos of the operation were shared on social media.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is located in the northwest of the country and borders Afghanistan. Due to the inadequate infrastructure, privately operated cable cars are often the only means of transport. These are often poorly maintained, if at all. Ten people were killed when a gondola crashed near the capital Islamabad in 2017.