Iran Press/ Asia: “Relieved to know that Alhamdolillah all the kids have been successfully and safely rescued. Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people,” the country’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said in a statement.
The rescue began Tuesday morning after six children and two teachers traveled to school in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when one of the gondola’s cables snapped, leaving them stuck some 900 feet above a valley, officials said.
The rescue included helicopters and the use of zip lines, officials say. But as night fell, Pakistani authorities were forced to pause helicopter rescues of the remaining children and adults.
The cable car was traveling between the villages of Btangi and Jhengarie and had made multiple trips on Tuesday before the cable snapped, said Tanveer Ur Rehman, deputy commissioner of Battagram district, who added that strong winds had thwarted earlier attempts to reach those trapped.
Many children who live in remote and mountainous parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rely on cable cars to ferry them to school and back. Some of these lack regular maintenance and can be risky travel.
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