Footage has revealed the moment children were rescued from a cable car dangling 1,200 feet over a ravine in Pakistan.
About seven children aged between 10 and 15 were trapped inside the chair lift for more than 10 hours, which was dangling by just one wire after another snapped.
An adult, Gulfaraz, who is aged in his twenties, accompanied the group.
They were travelling to school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday morning, according to rescue official, Bilal Ahmad Faizi.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar ordered a military helicopter to be sent to try and rescue those trapped on board.
The adult stuck in the cable car, a man named Gulfaraz, begged for help through the phone, pleading with authorities: ‘For God’s sake help us.’
Emergency services struggled to reach the children as the final remaining wire was at risk of snapping if the helicopter flew too close.
It would also cause the cable car to rattle, causing the children to ‘scream in fear’.
Ghulamullah, the chairman of the Allai valley area, told Geo News: ‘Every time the helicopter lowered the rescuer closer to the chair lift, the wind from the helicopter would shake and disbalance the chair lift making the children scream in fear.’
Watch the videos below.
Latest: #Battagram cable car: 4 child rescued, operation continues. pic.twitter.com/c9SZoJR3MY
— Mughees Ali (@mugheesali81) August 22, 2023
JUST IN – First child rescued from dangling Battagram cable car in Pakistan: rescue officials
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) August 22, 2023
#BREAKING
FOURTH (4) CHILD RESCUED by the Pakistani military.🎥: #Pakistan Air Force Leonardo AW-139 Seahawk helicopter rescues child from #Battagram cable car after 11 hours trapped in the chairlift. Army helicopters and SSG commandos, Shahbaz team paratroopers participated. pic.twitter.com/BZsmTI5uUT
— The STRATCOM Bureau (@OSPSF) August 22, 2023
