Six children and two adults trapped 300 meters up in the cabin of a cable car crossing a valley in a remote region of northwestern Pakistan.
“The cabin is suspended with a single rope. Inside the cabin there are at least eight occupants, mainly schoolchildren,” a senior official of the provincial relief agency, Abdul Basit Khan, told AFP.
The children were using the cable car to go to school when a cable broke. Thanks to a helicopter two children were saved thanks to an operation with the sling. On the structure there are still four children and two teachers.
Rescue operations with helicopters had initially been suspended in order not to endanger the only cable of the system that has not yet broken. "We have provided water and food to the trapped people and are now thinking about other options," rescuers said
Pakistan's interim prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq, called the incident "truly alarming", urging everyone to do everything possible to save people in danger.
"If the helicopter mission is unsuccessful, we will resort to our conventional methods of rescue to safely evacuate the trapped people," Battagram District Chief Administrator Attaullah Khan said.
(Unioneonline/L)
