2023 Battagram cable car incident

On 22 August 2023, in the Allai valley near the city of Battagram, situated in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, a cable car, used by local residents, primarily students, for daily commuting to school, became the centre of a rescue operation after one of its cables snapped, leaving six children and two adults stranded approximately 274 meters (900 feet) above the ground. All individuals were later rescued that day.

Background
The cable car was a chair lift, similar to many others used in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was a vital mode of transportation for residents of the region. It drastically reduced the travel time between a village and the local school from a two-hour road journey to a four-minute ride on the cable car.

The cable car was built by a local resident with permission from the city administration. Such makeshift arrangements are common in mountainous regions of Pakistan. While this particular cable car had no previous issues, there have been widespread issues regarding makeshift cable cars in Pakistan, which have led to injury and deaths.

Incident
The incident unfolded at around 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) when one or more of the cables supporting the chair-lift gave way, causing it to hang precariously by only one cable. This situation left the passengers in a state of distress and dire need of rescue.

Among the stranded passengers was a 16-year-old boy with a heart condition who had lost consciousness for several hours. His condition added an urgency to the rescue efforts.

Rescue efforts
The rescue efforts faced several challenges. Strong winds in the region and concerns about the helicopter's rotor blades potentially destabilising the chair-lift complicated the mission. Local residents who spotted the stranded cable car used loudspeakers to alert authorities, prompting the initiation of the rescue mission. Anxious crowds gathered on both sides of the valley to watch the unfolding rescue operation, including supplies being given. Parents of the trapped children anxiously waited at the site.

After a risk assessment, the plan was to airlift the individuals. Residents used loudspeakers to alert authorities, but helicopters only arrived to rescue the stranded individuals 2 hours after they were trapped. Up to four military helicopters were used after initial attempts to fix the faults were unsuccessful. Other rescue methods, such as ground rescue and sending a man tied on a charpai through the cable, were deployed in continued efforts to ensure the safety of those stranded in the cable car. Later that day, Pakistan's caretaker prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar posted on X (formerly Twitter) that all the children were rescued, and it was reported that all eight people were rescued in the operation.