Eight people, including six children who were on their way to school, were trapped on Tuesday in a cable car in northern Pakistan after several of the cables that supported it broke, while the authorities work against the clock to evacuate them.
“The cable car accident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is truly alarming. I have ordered the district authorities to urgently ensure the rescue and safe evacuation of the eight trapped people,” Acting Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar said on the X social network, formerly Twitter.
The accident took place at 08:00 local time (02:00 GMT) when dThe cables of the cable car broke, leaving the cabin stranded, General Secretary Mufti Gulamullah, from the Allai sub-district where the incident took place, told the Pakistani outlet Dawn.
The cable car It is located at about 2,000 meters of altitude, according to a document from the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) to which EFE had access.
However, various regional media estimate that the cabin is stranded at about 275 meters above ground, in a mountainous region where, according to the locals, the cable car is the only solution to reach lower heights, so the rescue teams requested the help of a helicopter to try to evacuate those trapped.
“Two adults together with school students (are) stranded on a cable car in Allai (…) In view of the above, You are requested to provide helicopter air support for the rescue operation,” appreciates the PDMA document addressed to the National Authority National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The authorities fear that the cable could break due to the air pressure caused by the helicopter, before which the rescue teams inspect other methods to rescue the eight affected.
As reported by phone one of the adults trapped to the Pakistani media GeoNews, the students who were traveling on board the cable car are between 10 and 15 years oldand one of them fainted from fear.
In addition, he stressed that they do not have drinking water or food, and that the battery of several of their phones was beginning to run out. AND