Boy trapped in cable car hanging 1,200ft in air 'thought we were going to die'

23 August 2023 , 12:03

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Boy trapped in cable car hanging 1,200ft in air 'thought we were going to die'

Dramatic footage shows the moment that a group of children were rescued from a broken down cable car suspended 1,200ft in the air after 16 hours.

The intense operation in Pakistan thankfully came to a happy ending after the drama unfolded on Tuesday morning at around 7am.

The cable car had been carrying six children and two adults, thought to be teachers, to their school in the remote mountainous region of Battagram, 120 miles north of Islamabad, when one of the cables snapped.

A frantic helicopter mission was launched with the students, aged between 11 and 15, and the adults being pulled out of the cable care one by one.

The rescue mission came to an end after 16 hours

Four of the six children had been rescued by the time darkness had fallen but there were fears the remaining two would be left stranded overnight. This was due to high winds and the lack of light meaning the rescue bid would have to be abandoned.

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But the determined team continued to work throughout the night and retrieved the finally children with a makeshift chairlift and zip line.

The heartwarming clip shows the final two youngsters being zip lined with experts onto the steep side of the mountain. They where met with cheers and applause from a huge crowd of people.

Locals from the area waved at the two boys, while others filmed them being pulled in on the rope and cried 'God is great'. The two boys were later seen receiving oxygen and first aid from medical teams, before being comforted by locals.

The cable care was left dangling 1,200 ft in the air (AP)

Osama Sharif, one of those rescued boys, said: "I had heard stories about miracles, but I saw a miraculous rescue happening with my own eyes." The 15-year-old had been heading to school on Tuesday to receive the results of his final exams, when the cable snapped.

"We suddenly felt a jolt, and it all happened so suddenly that we thought all of us are going to die," he said in a telephone interview.
Some of those on board the cable car had mobile phones and started making calls.

Worried parents tried to reassure the children. "They were telling us 'Don't worry, help is coming'," said Osama. Nazi Ahmed, a senior police officer who helped coordinate the rescue mission, said the boys were handed over to their families who 'burst into tears'. He added: "Everyone was praying for this moment."

Earlier, Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the state-run emergency service, had promised the remaining people in the car would soon be rescued. He said food and water were supplied to the car earlier in the day. According to Pakistani TV stations, some of those trapped were in contact with their families by cellphone.

The youngsters were trapped for up to 16 hours (AP)

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.

Ata Ullah, another rescued student, said he would steel himself for the next time he has to board one. "I feel fear in my mind about using the cable car, but I have no other option. I will go to my school again when the cable car is repaired," he said.

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The boys were given oxygen after being rescued (AP)

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, wrote on X, the service formerly known as Twitter, that he had ordered safety inspections of the country's cable cars and chairlifts. 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."

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.

Lorraine King