Introduction

A cable car carrying two adults and six children on Tuesday hung suspended hundreds of meters above the ground in a remote area of Pakistan due to a malfunction, leaving the occupants trapped for hours before helicopter rescuers were dispatched to attempt their rescue.

Delicate Rescue Operation

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.

Anxious Relatives and Nationwide Attention

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.

Poorly Maintained Cable Cars

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.

Rescue Efforts

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 the ground, according to Taimoor Khan, a spokesperson for the disaster management authority.

Prime Minister’s Orders

Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) 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.

Risk and Prayers

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.

Past Incidents

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.