- Owner and operator of cable car arrested following a harrowing incident in Battagram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- Eight passengers rescued after a 15-hour ordeal.
- Safety audits ordered for chairlifts across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A day following a harrowing cable car incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram, where eight passengers, mostly students, were stranded for over 15 hours, police have arrested the owner and operator of the gondola.
The ordeal began early on Tuesday morning when the cable car carrying the passengers got stuck midway due to the snapping of two wires. A challenging rescue operation led by Pakistan Army’s commandos successfully retrieved all eight passengers.
Simultaneously, local authorities launched an inquiry into the incident and sealed the cable car’s control room. The Hazara division deputy inspector general of police disclosed that the initial report now includes five counts of negligence. Further investigations into the matter are ongoing.
To prevent such incidents in the future, the interim government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has ordered the inspection and safety audit of all chairlifts across the province. This directive came in the wake of the Pakistan Army’s heroic rescue operation.
Deputy commissioners in KP have been tasked with conducting immediate safety audits of chairlifts within their jurisdictions, including those over rivers and canals. They are also instructed to assess design, capacity, and safety measures, with reports due within a week. Furthermore, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the district administration will now be mandatory for cable car installations.