PAKISTAN: Six children and two adults are stranded in a chairlift that is 900 feet (274 metres) above a hilly area in Pakistan, and an urgent rescue attempt is underway to free them. According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the children were on their way to school in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province when one of the chairlift’s wires broke around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday.
A larger helicopter arrived after a surveillance helicopter to transport rescued students to the chairlift area, according to district deputy commissioner Tanveer Ur Rehman. One passenger reported to the Pakistani news channel that two students were sliding in and out of consciousness.
Another passenger has requested state intervention after claiming that 10-15-year-old pupils lack access to drinking water. Rescue workers have administered nausea medication to the passengers, while those trapped have been given heart medication. Children have reported vomiting, and rescue workers are working to provide the necessary support.
Ur Rehman told the media that until the rescue mission was through, the helicopters would remain in the air since bringing them down would have caused the remaining cable to move too much. An earlier report from a representative of the local administration claimed that eight children and their parents were stranded at a height of 1,200 feet (365 metres).
A chairlift connecting two local settlements snapped on two cables, according to a rescue official. Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has ordered the closure of all “dilapidated and non-compliant chairlifts.”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s rural and hilly areas are home to many youngsters who rely on cable cars to get them to and from school. Some of them are not regularly maintained and can be dangerous modes of transportation.
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