Daily Times

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, Military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement, adding that the GOC SSG himself supervised the operation. The Ministry of Interior said the rescued persons are identified as Irfan s/o Amrez, Niaz s/o Umarzeb, Rizwan s/o Abdul Qayyum, Gulfaraz s/o Hakeemdad, Sher Nawaz s/o Shah Nazar, Abrar s/o Abdul Ghani, Attaullah s/o Kifayatullah and Usama s/o Muhammad Sharif. The students, stranded since 7am, were using the cable car to get to school in a mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 km (125 miles) north of Islamabad, officials said.

The ISPR said in a statement that slinging team of the Special Services Group of the Pakistan Army safely rescued the people trapped in the chairlift at a height of 600 feet. All persons trapped in the chairlift were safely evacuated and moved to a safe place, it said. On the special instructions of the Army Chief, the talented team of Army Aviation and SSG started the rescue operation swiftly, said the military’s media wing. Later, the slinging team of the SSG and the helicopter of the Pakistan Air Force also became a part of the operation, it added. The ISPR said that Army Aviation also provided full technical support to the SSG slinging team, which made the operation successful.

During the operation, Pakistan Army and Pakistan Air Force pilots showed unparalleled skill and efficiency. A local cable expert was also hired to successfully complete the rescue operation. Civil administration and locals also actively participated in this operation.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, taking to X (formerly Twitter) said, “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.”