Perilous Helicopter Cable Car Rescue Underway In Pakistan

Photo: AFP (Getty Images)

A cable car is currently dangling above a ravine in Northern Pakistan. The BBC reports that eight people, including six school-bound students, were riding in the cable cars when one of its two wires snapped at around 7:15 a.m. local time. The car’s occupants spent ten hours stranded without food or water as the Pakistan Army organized a helicopter rescue effort. At the time of publication, four children were rescued while four people remain in the cable car.

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The Pakistan Army has been using four helicopters to try to reach those trapped on the cable car about 900 feet above the ground. However, high winds have severely impacted rescue attempts. There are fears that downdraft from the helicopter’s blades and the high winds could cause the cable car to snap the lone remaining wire prematurely. Time is of the essence because it’s unknown how long the single cable can support the car’s weight.

The cable car had already completed four trips on the day of the issue, with the incident happening on the fifth trip. The local community uses the cable car to cut a two-hour journey by car from one side of the ravine to the other down to just a four-minute trip.

There were two adults and six children onboard when the cable snapped. A 16-year-old boy in the car with a heart condition has been unconscious for at least two hours. The Pakistan Army has pulled four children from the car, but it hasn’t been confirmed if the unconscious boy was among the rescued.

As the Pakistan Army suspends helicopter rescues for the night, ground-based rescue teams are attempting to set up a new cable to support the dangling car. The father of a stranded child told the BBC, “I am afraid that the time for the operation is short. A new rope is currently being prepared to be laid, but this may take time. Thousands of people are engaged in the work of laying the rope.”