Mansehra DIG confirms incident, stating there is no option but to rescue stranded passengers via helicopter
A military helicopter has arrived to save eight people, including six school children, who were left stranded mid-air after the cable of a chairlift broke down in Allai Tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram district on Tuesday.
Helicopters of Pakistan Army Aviation and Pakistan Air Force are participating in the rescue operation along with the SSG troops.
Tahir Ayub, a regional police officer, confirmed the incident, stating there is “no option” but to rescue the stranded passengers through a helicopter.
According to Dail Relation Times, the chairlift started shaking as the Pakistan Army’s rescue helicopter approached it and there is a risk of the chairlift losing balance.
Other options to conduct the rescue operation, which is being deemed risky, were under consideration including a sling operation by the SSG team.
Wing Commander (retd) Asim Nawaz said the sling operation should be started at the earliest.
“There is a possibility of bad weather in this area. It is better if the helicopter is 60 to 80 feet away from the chairlift,” he said.
Speaking about the operation, the former military officer said that a commando will approach closer to the chairlift during the sling operation.
“A chairlift stuck at a height of about 900 ft midway due to breakage in one of its cable in Battagram. 8 persons including 6 children [are] stranded,” the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a statement.
The statement said NDMA has provided coordination support to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
“After coordination Pak Army helicopter has been despatched for [the] rescue operation,” it added.
The incident was confirmed by Mansehra Deputy Inspector General of Police Tahir Ayub who said there is no option but to rescue the stranded passengers through a copter.
The cable hangs in the middle of a deep ravine surrounded by stunning mountains, where cable cars are frequently used to connect remote villages and towns.
Syed Hammad Haider, a senior KP provincial official, said the cable car was hanging about 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the ground.
“We have requested the KP government to provide a helicopter because the relief activity is not possible without the help of a helicopter,” he said.
One helicopter had already conducted surveillance and then returned, and another one would be sent shortly, he added.
According to Geo News, the chairlift started shaking as the Pakistan Army’s rescue helicopter approached it and there is a risk of the chairlift losing balance.
Other options to conduct the rescue operation, which is being deemed risky, were under consideration including a sling operation by the SSG team.
Wing Commander (retd) Asim Nawaz said the sling operation should be started at the earliest.
“There is a possibility of bad weather in this area. It is better if the helicopter is 60 to 80 feet away from the chairlift,” he said.
Speaking about the operation, the former military officer said that a commando will approach closer to the chairlift during the sling operation.
“A chairlift stuck at a height of about 900 ft midway due to breakage in one of its cable in Battagram. 8 persons including 6 children [are] stranded,” the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a statement.
The statement said NDMA has provided coordination support to Provincial Disaster Mangaement Authority (PDMA).
“After coordination Pak Army helicopter has been despatched for [the] rescue operation,” it added.
The cable hangs in the middle of a deep ravine surrounded by stunning mountains, where cable cars are frequently used to connect remote villages and towns.
‘Student with heart ailment unconscious for several hours’
Gulfaraz, a 20-year-old who is currently present on the chairlift, told Geo News via a phone call that he and other passengers have been stuck for more than six hours.
He shared that a 16-year-old passenger, who suffers from a heart condition, has been unconscious for the last three hours. Gulfraz shared that the teenager was going to the hospital through the chairlift.
“We don’t even have drinking water in the chairlift,” he complained.
Gulfaraz said the first wire broke at 7am while another cable broke down soon after.
“The first cable broke down after the chairlift travelled a mile,” the 20-year-old said, adding that the passengers have been waiting for help since early morning.
Gulfaraz confirmed that there are eight people in the chairlift of which six are students.
The ages of students are between 10 to 16 years old, he said.
Chairlift located at 2,000 meters
According to details released by PDMA, the chairlift incident occurred at 8:30am in Pashto area of Battagram.
The chairlift is located at a height of about two thousand meters and passes through rainwater channel in the middle of the mountains, the PDMA added.
The children, who have been stranded, were using the chair lift to get to school in the mountainous area in Battagram.
Sonia Shamrose, the district police officer, told Geo News that all efforts were being made to rescue the people trapped in the chairlift.
Zafar Iqbal, a school teacher, said that the students were coming to the school by the chairlift.
“The chairlift is used to go from one place to another. In this area, 150 children come to school by chairlift,” he said, confirming that two wires of the cable car broke down mid-air.
‘Alarming incident’
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has termed the incident alarming, directing the National Disaster Management Authority and Provincial Disaster Management Authority to “urgently ensure safe rescue and evacuation of the 8 people stuck in the chairlift”.
“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 added.
Before the rescue, a Pakistan Army helicopter is currently conducting reconnaissance before initiating the sling operation.
It is reported that two of the three chairlift cables have already broken, and the remaining wire can break due to the air pressure generated by the helicopter, which is why the rescue operation will be carried out in a very careful manner.
Earlier, Faisal Karim Kundi, a Pakistan Peoples Party leader, sought help requesting the interim premier, interim Chief Minister KP Muhammad Azam Khan and Information Minister Feroze Jamal to take immediate action.
‘Risky affair’
A former pilot Syed Jawad told that the Pakistan Army Aviation is equipped to deal with the situation and has previously conducted rescue operations.
He added that the problem in today’s operation is that the Out of Ground Effect (OGE) will be conducted here, which is a very difficult process.
However, he added, that two of the military’s choppers are equipped to handle such an operation.
“The operation is conducted through the rope, which we refer to as sling operation,” he said.
Jawad said the passengers can be rescued by throwing the rope at the stranded passengers, so they could tie themselves with it and get pulled up slowly, while another way to rescue, he said, is through the hoist during which the passengers are pulled up through a seat which is descended into the affected carrier for them to sit in it.
The former pilot said that the weight of the passengers and chopper’s fuel while its hovers mid-air are crucial when assessing the rescue operation’s success.
“It can be a risky affair,” he added.
