Current:Home > MarketsPakistani rescuers try to free 6 kids and 2 men in a cable car dangling hundreds of feet in the air-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Pakistani rescuers try to free 6 kids and 2 men in a cable car dangling hundreds of feet in the air
lotradecoin advanced analytics dashboard View Date:2024-12-26 02:58:02
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A cable car carrying six children and two adults dangled hundreds of meters (feet) above the ground in a remote part of Pakistan after it broke on Tuesday, trapping the occupants for hours before rescuers arrived in helicopters to try to free them.
Army commandos could be seen on local TV trying to lower themselves on ropes from the choppers toward the cable car. An expert warned the rescue was incredibly delicate because the wind created by the helicopters’ blades could further weaken cables holding the car aloft.
Relatives of those trapped prayed while anxiously watching the operation unfold. The rescue has also transfixed Pakistanis across the country who crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and hospitals.
According to Pakistani TV stations, some of those trapped were in contact with their families by cell phone, while authorities said the two adults were consoling the children, who were between the ages of 11 and 15.
One of the cables snapped while the eight people were crossing a river canyon in Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children had been on their way to school, and 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 that he ordered authorities “to urgently ensure safe rescue and evacuation of the 8 people.”
“I have also directed the authorities to conduct safety inspections of all such private chairlifts and ensure that they are safe to operate and use,” he said on the platform formerly known as Twitter.
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.”
“Let us pray that those trapped in the cable car are safely rescued,” Sultan said.
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.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- Wisconsin’s Evers urges federal judge not to make changes at youth prison in wake of counselor death
- Adoptive parents sentenced in starving death of Washington teen
- Bronze top hat missing from Abraham Lincoln statue in Kentucky
- Vivek Ramaswamy Called ‘the Climate Change Agenda’ a Hoax in Alabama’s First-Ever Presidential Debate. What Did University of Alabama Students Think?
- Conservative are pushing a ‘parental rights’ agenda in Florida school board races. But will it work?
- Rohingya Muslims in Indonesia struggle to find shelter. President says government will help for now
- Elon Musk Makes Rare Appearance With His and Grimes’ Son X Æ A-Xii
- Palestinians hope a vote in the UN General Assembly will show wide support for a Gaza cease-fire
- How you can get a free scoop of ice cream at Baskin Robbins Wednesday
- Rescuers have recovered 11 bodies after landslides at a Zambia mine. More than 30 are feared dead
Ranking
- Rob Schneider Responds to Daughter Elle King Calling Out His Parenting
- Climate talks enter last day with no agreement in sight on fossil fuels
- Messi vs. Ronaldo will happen again: Inter Miami will play in Saudi Arabia early in 2024
- Man imprisoned as teen for flower shop killing is released after judge throws out his conviction
- Ex-YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies a year after stepping down. Who is the current CEO?
- A countdown to climate action
- Vanderpump Rules Season 11 Trailer Teases Another Shocking Hookup Scandal
- Life in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine is grim. People are fleeing through a dangerous corridor
Recommendation
-
What to stream: Post Malone goes country, Sydney Sweeney plays a nun and Madden 25 hits the field
-
Several seriously injured when construction site elevator crashes to the ground in Sweden
-
Three people die in a crash that authorities discovered while investigating a stolen vehicle
-
Arkansas AG rejects language for proposed ballot measure protecting access to government records
-
A stowaway groundhog is elevated to local icon
-
Life in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine is grim. People are fleeing through a dangerous corridor
-
Third Mississippi man is buried in a pauper’s grave without family’s knowledge
-
How to watch The Game Awards 2023, the biggest night in video gaming