Owner, operator of Battagram cable car arrested for ‘negligence’

The police on Wednesday apprehended two people — the cable car operator and its owner — over negligence in connection to the tragic incident of the gondola that put the lives of eight people at risk for more than 15 hours in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Battagram yesterday.

The incident took place early Tuesday morning when eight passengers — most of them were students — onboard the cable car were on the way to school. The trolly got stuck halfway when two of its wires snapped.

The army later started an operation — led by SSG’s general officer commanding (GOC) — to save the people on board the cable car. After the nerve-testing rescue operation, all eight passengers were successfully rescued by the Pakistan Army’s commandos.

Meanwhile, the police also launched an investigation into the incident and sealed the cable car’s control room.

According to the Hazara division deputy inspector general of police, five counts related to negligence have been added to the first information report (FIR). He added that further investigators are underway in this regard.

Read more: Battagram chairlift rescue operation: Army’s SSG commandos rescue four children

Inspection of all chairlifts ordered

In a bid to avoid such incidents in the future, the caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) ordered the inspection of all chairlifts installed in the province and conducting their safety audit.

The directives from the provincial authority came just hours after the Pakistan Army’s special unit and zipline experts rescued people trapped inside the cable car in Battagram.

According to fresh directives issued to all the deputy commissioners in KP, they are tasked to carry out a safety audit of chairlifts within their jurisdictions.

Immediate checking of chairlifts at all commercial, domestic and recreational places should be carried out by the provincial government, stated the advisory, adding that inspection of cable cars installed over rivers and canals should also be done by the relevant authorities.

The DCs have been asked to review the design, capacity and safety measures of all chairlifts and submit reports within a week.

It has also been made mandatory to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the district administration before the installation of cable cars.