The cable car was left dangling in the air for more than 15 hours.
Days after authorities in Pakistan rescued eight people trapped for more than 15 hours in a cable car dangling 900 feet above the ground over a deep ravine, a new footage has emerged that shows the harrowing final moments before the rescue. The drone video shows passengers desperately holding onto the grills and pole as the cable car hung dangerously in a titled position above the remote Allai valley in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The video has been obtained exclusively by the BBC and is widely circulating on social media platforms.
Watch the video here:
The terrifying reality of 15 hours inside the cable car, hanging precariously yesterday
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Military helicopters and zipline experts were deployed to rescue the eight stranded people, including six schoolchildren.
The daring rescue began with a helicopter plucking two children to safety. It was forced back to base in the dark after being airborne for 12 hours.
The rescuers then used the cable keeping the gondola from plunging into the valley as a zipline to rescue the rest of those stranded.
Cable cars that carry passengers, and sometimes even cars, are commonly used across the northern areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit-Baltistan and are vital in connecting villages and towns in areas where roads cannot be built.
In 2017, 10 people were killed when a chairlift cable broke, sending passengers plunging into a ravine in a mountain hamlet near the capital, Islamabad.
(With inputs from AFP)