Airborne heroes save eight lives from precarious height

Army rescuers pluck stranded students from hanging gondola in mountaneous Battagram to safety

The army mobilised Special Services Group (SSG) troops and deployed a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) helicopter on Tuesday to successfully rescue eight people, including six students, from a damaged cable car stuck 600 feet above ground.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, the army carried out the “most complicated and difficult rescue operation” in Battagram district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa district.

All eight stranded persons, including schoolchildren and a teacher, were successfully rescued by Pakistan Army troops in hours-long operation after two wires of a cable car snapped in Battagram's Allai tehsil on Tuesday morning, leaving them stranded over 600 feet mid-air.… pic.twitter.com/6iv3ax9Kf7

— The Express Tribune (@etribune) August 22, 2023

The six children from the Government High School Batangi Pashto had been on their way to the school when the chairlift broke down at around 7:00 am, above the Jangri Khwar stream in the lush green Allai valley.

The cable car became stranded half way across a ravine and was hanging at an angle, by a single cable after the others snagged, Shariq Riaz Khattak, a rescue official told Reuters.

Residents used mosque loudspeakers to alert neighbourhood officials of the emergency and hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the ravine — hours away from any sizeable town — to watch the drama unfold.

Read Chairlift mishap

Local officials said that the Hazara Division Commissioner had sought help from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and the provincial rescue departments.

Initially, an army helicopter was dispatched to expedite the rescue operation, followed by a second helicopter shortly afterwards. The first aircraft left after conducting a survey to assess the situation.

“With two out of three cables of the gondola broken, the situation was precarious,” an official told Express News. “Rescue workers on the ground also began the process of laying down nets to prepare for any mishaps.”

The officials said that during the first attempt, it was observed that the cable car, hanging by one wire, was extremely vulnerable to the wind pressure, as the downwash generated by the helicopter shook gondola and destabilised it.

Several military helicopters had earlier in the day flown sorties while an airman was lowered by a harness to deliver food, water and medicine to the stranded people, an official, told AFP.

The helicopter rescue mission was complicated by gusty winds in the area. As it became dark, flood lights were installed and a ground-based rescue operation was continued more than 15 hours.

The daring rescue began with a helicopter plucking two children to safety after almost 12 hours. Then rescuers used the cable, as a zipline, keeping the gondola from plunging into the valley.

The two children were rescued by helicopter, one by one, district official Shah Fahad said. TV footage showed one child being lifted off the cable car by a helicopter in a harness, swinging side to side before being carried to the ground.

A video shared by a rescue agency official showed more than a dozen rescuers and locals lined up near the edge of the dark ravine, pulling on a cable until a boy attached to it by a harness reached the hillside safely.

The rescue effort transfixed the country, with people crowding around television sets, as local media showed footage of an emergency worker dangling from a helicopter cable close to the small cabin, with those onboard cramped together.

The high-risk operation was completed further in the darkness of night. However, the ordeal ended after more than 15 hours. “It was a unique operation that required lots of skill,” the military statement said.

“A talented team of the Army Aviation and the SSG started the rescue operation quickly. Later, a sling team of the SSG and a helicopter of the Pakistan Air Force also became a part of the operation,” the ISPR said.

“The sling team of the SSG safely rescued the people trapped in the chairlift at a height of 600 feet,” it said, referring to the ‘Sling’ aerial operations where large loads are moved in geographically difficult terrains.

“An extremely difficult and complicated operation has been successfully completed by the Pakistan military,” the ISPR said. “All stranded persons were safely evacuated and moved to a safe place.”

The operation was launched on the instructions of Army Chief Gen Asim Munir. It was led by the general officer commanding (GOC) of the SSG. The ISPR said that the civil administration and locals also actively came forward to join the rescue.

Bilal Faizi, the spokesperson for the emergency service Rescue 1122 said that the rescue operation was completed. “The two adults were the last to be rescued,” he said. “The children aged between 10 and 15.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar confirmed the rescue in a tweet: "Thanks to the efforts of our army personnel, students stuck in the chairlift have started returning to the ground safely," he posted on X.

Relieved to know that Alhamdolillah all the kids have been successfully and safely rescued. Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people. 🇵🇰 https://t.co/2gPq2Q51Xi

— Anwaar ul Haq Kakar (@anwaar_kakar) August 22, 2023

“Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people,” Haq Kakar tweeted. He had earlier issued a directive for all chairlifts in mountainous areas to be inspected for safety.

Cable cars that carry passengers—and sometimes even cars—are common across the northern areas of K-P and Gilgit-Baltistan, and are vital to connecting villages and towns in areas where roads cannot be built.

“The school is located in a mountainous area and there are no safe crossings, so it’s common to use the chairlift,” GHS Battangi Pashto Headmaster Ali Asghar Khan said.

(WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES)