Young man drowns during rescue attempt to save son stranded in chairlift in KP’s Shangla

A young man drowned on Tuesday while trying to rescue his son stranded over the Indus river in a manually operated chairlift in the Bisham tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla area.

Local witness Mansoor Ali Khan, who was there during the time of the incident, told Dawn.com that a 13-year-old boy was stranded in the chairlift over the Indus river and his father, Muhammad Aziz, was trying to rescue his son through a rope.

Khan said the rope through which the father was trying to rescue his son snapped, causing the former to fall into the river and being swept away by the strong currents.

He said that the boy remained stuck in the chairlift and was rescued by locals after hectic efforts.

Another witness said that Aziz was a resident of Kund, Allai of Battagram district.

He said villagers used to cross the river in the manually operated chairlift which was made by the deceased’s uncle.

Aziz’s uncle Torkhan told Dawn.com that the family had contacted Rescue 1122’s Bisham station but no one came and the boy had been stranded since 12pm.

He said even after hours of Aziz’s drowning, rescue services did not come to search for his body

Shangla Rescue 1122 spokesperson Rasool Khan Sharif said their station had received one call and as the team was dispatched, the caller informed them that the boy was rescued and there was no need to come.

Locals said that such chairlifts — manually operated by pushing a metal handle — were dangerous for commuting, especially on the Indus rider where a body cannot be fished out for months.

The chairlift was also sealed by Bisham tehsil Assistant Commissioner Adnan Khan after the famous chairlift tragedy that happened in a rural area of Allai tehsil in Battagram. But, people began using it again after maintenance.

The development came almost a year after the rescue of eight people, including six children, in August 2023, who remained stranded on a cable car hundreds of feet above ground in the mountainous Battagram area.

They had gotten stuck in the chairlift for long hours after two of its cables snapped. They were rescued late at night after an operation that spanned over 14 hours.