Chilling drone footage shows people dangling in stranded cable car right above ravine in Pakistan

A chilling drone footage of the cable car that recently malfunctioned over a ravine in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province emerged and went viral on social media. In the video, which was accessed by BBC, six children and two adults could be seen dangling from the cramped cable car and waiting for 16 hours to be rescued, at a height of 1,200 feet above a valley.

The cable car company's owner was later arrested on multiple charges, which included endangering valuable lives and negligence.

The owner was arrested after a child, who was present in that hanging chair-lift, said that he feared "it was over" during the ordeal.

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"When the chairlift was halfway there, its rope broke. It was dangling and I was terrified," Attaullah Shah stated, reported BBC.

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“I was hell-scared and all the children started screaming. We started holding each other as it kept dangling. I thought I was dead now," he added while speaking to The Guardian.

Drone footage of people stranded high up in a malfunctioned cable car in Pakistan. I 🙏 they're okay pic.twitter.com/0Ytp2JtW18 — Ghost Browser (@AlliedDemocracy) August 23, 2023

One trapped child was rescued by a military chopper, while the rest of the group was saved by zip line experts after dark.

The group of children were going to school when the cables of two of the cars snapped.

'Felt like doomsday'

The uncle of one of the rescued children Fahim Udin Shah, speaking to BBC, said, "It was like doomsday for the area."

"Everyone rushed out of their homes [to observe the operation]. A kid from almost every household was here," he stated.

The army of Pakistan said that the rescue mission was "extremely difficult and dangerous".

The incident took place on Tuesday at about 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) near the city of Battagram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

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Six children, between the age of 10 and 16 years old, were trapped in the cable car along with two adults.

Among them, a teenage boy had a heart condition and, hence, he was unconscious for several hours, said an adult onboard named Gulfaraz, while speaking to local media.

One of the children also fainted due to "heat and fear", a rescue worker told Reuters news agency, although it was not clear if he was the same child.

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