Cable Breaks At 900 Feet, Seven Students And A Teacher Trapped In Gondola: Wind Blocked Rescue Mission

Illustration. (Unsplash/Tristan Hess)

JAKARTA - Seven students and a teacher were trapped on a cable car hanging 274 meters (900 feet) above a ravine in Pakistan, after the hook cable broke while rescue missions by helicopters were particularly risky, hampered by strong winds, officials said on Tuesday.

The children, who have been stranded since 07.00 a.m. local time, used the gondola to go to school in a mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 km (125 miles) north of Islamabad, officials said.

Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that a cable had been cut off on the Gondola service. Two military helicopters have been dispatched for rescue operations, after efforts to repair the damage were unsuccessful.

The Gondola was stopped in the middle of a ravine hanging on one cable after another cable broke, Shariq Riaz Khattak, a rescue worker at the scene told Reuters.

Muzaffar Khan, a district government official in Battagram, said seven students and a teacher were in the Gondola.

"A strong wind hit us," Gulfaraz, a 20-year-old student who was in the Gondola, told local television channel Geo News by telephone, begging authorities to save them as soon as possible.

He added that another student who was in the Gondola was between 10 and 15 years old. A 15-year-old child fainted due to anxiety.

Rescue missions are complicated due to strong winds in the area and the fact that helicopter propellers are at risk of disrupting elevator stability, Khattak said.

The two military helicopters flew near the hanging cable car, he added.

Separately, a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said special service forces, trained in the Sling operation, were involved in this "very dangerous and risky operation".

"All efforts were made by the Pakistani army to save those stranded in the elevator," he said.

It is known that people living in mountainous areas north of Pakistan often use GOndola for transportation from one village to another.

Abdul Nasir Khan, a local resident, said that the children would go to high school in Batangai in Alai.

"We were powerless to see them but couldn't help," Khan said.

Separately, Pakistani Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar's caretaker, expressed concern about the incident in a post on Twitter.

"I have also directed authorities to carry out safety inspections of all GOndola and ensure they are safe for operation and use," he wrote in a post.