Three missing after cable car falls into Indus River in northwestern Pakistan

In this file photo, taken on August 23, 2023, local residents gather near the accident site in Pashto village, a mountainous area of Battagram district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (AP/File)

• Search operation comprising professional divers underway to recover any survivors, rescue official says
• Communities in northern Pakistan build cable cars out of scrap metal as alternate to costly road travel

ISLAMABAD: At least three persons went missing after a cable car fell into the Indus River in the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rescue officials said on Friday, amid a search for potential survivors.
The incident took place in the Upper Kohistan district of the province, when the three men aged between 18 and 36 years were using the cable car to cross the river, according to a Rescue 1122 spokesperson.
Rescue 1122 divers, disaster management and medical teams reached shortly after the control room was informed about the incident.
“Despite a rapid flow of water, rescue teams are engaged in search operations at three different locations,” the Rescue 1122 spokesperson said in a statement.
A team of specialized divers had also been called in from Bisham area to participate in the operation, while heavy machinery was being used to pull the cable car out of the river.
Makeshift cable cars are widely used in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan regions. Local communities build them out of scrap metal because it’s cheaper and there is no other alternative considering the terrain of the area which makes road travel more costly.
In August last year, rescuers had pulled out seven children and a man to safety after their cable car was stranded high over a remote ravine in KP’s Battagram district, ending an ordeal lasting more than 15 hours. The high-risk operation was successfully completed in the dark of night after the cable car snagged early in the morning, leaving it hanging precariously at an angle.
The rescue effort had transfixed the country, with Pakistanis crowded around television sets, as local media showed footage of an emergency worker dangling from a helicopter cable close to the small cabin, with those onboard cramped together.