Eerie drone video shows six children and two adults hanging hundreds of feet in the air inside a cable car in Pakistan, before they were finally rescued in a daring helicopter operation.
Stunning eye-level footage obtained by the BBC and Sky News shows one of the adults clinging to the gondola chassis some 900ft above a ravine in the remote Battagram region.
A boy appears to be talking on the phone inside the car while the drone circles a few meters away.
The eight passengers, who were trapped early Tuesday morning when one of the cables snapped on the way to a school, were finally saved from the dizzying 16-hour experience in a rescue operation involving helicopters and military commandos.
One of the youngest was grabbed by a soldier tied to a helicopter, while others were lowered to the ground on a makeshift chairlift made from a wooden bed frame and ropes.
“I had heard stories about miracles, but I saw with my own eyes a miraculous rescue,” said Osama Sharif, 15, after returning to the mainland.
Six children and two adults hung hundreds of meters in the air inside a cable car in Pakistan before being rescued. skynews
The cable car hung some 900 feet above a ravine in the remote Battagram region.Sky News
“Suddenly we felt a jolt, and it all happened so suddenly that we thought we were all going to die,” he said of the first terrifying seconds.
Another boy, Attaullah Shah, said he feared “it was all over” when the cable broke, the BBC reported.
“When the chairlift was halfway up, the rope broke. He was hanging and he was terrified,” he said.
The broken cable car hangs 900 feet high. UMEED SAHAR via REUTERS
One of the rescuers who flew in to help save the group was Muhammad Ali Swati, a 34-year-old zip line and adventure tour operator, The Telegraph reported.
“I was called to help with the rescue mission,” Swati, who is from the village of Beer-Kund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told the UK news outlet. “After packing my bags, I was flown to the location.
“When I first got to the cable car, the children were screaming at me in fear. They were afraid that if the rope moved, the elevator would fall down,” she said.
Zipliner Muhammad Ali Swati was brought in to assist in the daring rescue.Muhammad Ali/Facebook
Swati explained that it took them several minutes to allay their fears.
“We instruct each person, one by one, about the safety equipment. Behind us was a protective rope attached, which army personnel and civilians were pulling to help,” he told The Telegraph.
“They were in extreme distress and they clung to me like a child clings to its mother. Tears welled up in my eyes; I can’t express the feeling,” she added.
Six children and two adults were rescued from the cable car on Tuesday.AFP via Getty Images
The adventurer said that the operation did not go smoothly.
“While carrying three children to safety, my left hand got caught on a taut rope,” he said, adding that he nearly suffered a serious injury in the mishap.
“Miraculously, they momentarily loosened the rope, allowing me to free my hand,” Swati said, referring to other rescuers hundreds of meters away.
The young people who were trapped in the broken cable car received first aid after their rescue.AP
Survivor Ibrar Ahmad receives help at a health care center in a Pashto village in the mountainous province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. AFP via Getty Images
Another rescuer was Sahib Khan, 30, whose family specializes in building cable cars, the outlet reported. He helped set up the makeshift zip line used in the effort.
“I started my operation around 7pm after sunset and managed to bring the first child to land,” he told The Telegraph. “The most difficult task for me was convincing the children to get out of the cart.”
All the students were between the ages of 10 and 16, including one who fainted “due to heat and fear,” rescue official Shariq Riaz Khattak said.
Meanwhile, the owner of the cable car, Gul Zareen, has been arrested on multiple charges, including endangering valuable lives and negligence, the BBC reported.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn