Tag: rescue

  • Battagram incident: What, When, Where, Who?

    Battagram incident: What, When, Where, Who?

    After a long and tense 14 hours, all the eight passengers stuck on a cable car were rescued around 10: 45 p.m. on Tuesday night. Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti confirmed the mission’s completion on X (formerly Twitter).

    The incident occurred at GHS Batangi Pashto spot where the cable car was suspended at the height of approximately 600 feet and its sling spanned over 200 meters. The cable car was crossing over Jangri Khwar stream carrying eight students. Around 8:30 a.m., while the passengers were making their way to school, two of the main cables that regulated the movement of the cable car snapped due to a technical malfunction.

    Makeshift cable cars are commonly used in eastern Mansehra, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Gilgit Baltistan, sometimes being the only alternative to traditional mediums of transportation in a topography that includes mountains and rivers. While there are no roads or schools in some of these areas, cable cars are the only means of travel for many.

    Who were the people stuck in the cable car?

    There were a total of eight passengers: seven students and one local. 20-year-old Gulfaraz spoke with Geo News over the phone while stuck in the cable car. According to him, the children were aged between 10 and 15. One boy had fainted because of fear and heat.

    The students present in the cable car were Ibrar (son of Abdul Ghani), Irfan (son of Umraiz), Usama (Muhammad Sharif), Rizwan Ullah (son of Abdul Qayyum), Atta Ullah (son of Kifayat Ullah), Niaz Muhammad (Umar Zeb), and Sher Nawaz (son of Shah Nazar).

    While these students were stuck and awaiting rescue, Geo News reported that the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Abbottabad had announced results. Three of the students to receive results were among the trapped passengers, including Attaullah, who obtained 442 marks; Niaz Mohammad, who secured 412 marks; and Usama, who took 391 numbers. All the three boys had been promoted to class 10.

    The rescue operation

    Even though the operation began near noon, the first boy was not rescued till late evening. The situation got tricky with wind picking up speed and the looming darkness. By nighttime, the military helicopter rescue operation was called off with only two children rescued till then. However, ground-based rescue operation began, with flood lights and a platform quickly built along the cable. In the hours that followed, all the passengers were successfully saved.

  • Baby monkey gives hard time to wildlife team after it escapes KHI court

    Baby monkey gives hard time to wildlife team after it escapes KHI court

    A dramatic incident unfolded at the city court in Karachi when a baby monkey managed to escape while being brought alongside 13 other monkeys by the Sindh Wildlife Department, reported Geo News.

    Two individuals responsible for transporting the monkeys were arrested by the authorities for violating provincial wildlife laws. The suspects were brought before the district and sessions court on Thursday, which fined them Rs100,000 and ordered to hand over the baby monkeys to the zoo.

    The monkeys were being kept in wooden mango crates, and one clever little monkey managed to escape the confines of its container. The baby monkey sought refuge on a tree, proving to be quite elusive due to its small size and agility, making it challenging for the rescue team to catch. The Sindh Wildlife Department stated that they would continue their rescue operation the next day (Friday), which is today, in an effort to capture the baby monkey still at large in the city court area.

    The department had recovered them during a search of a passenger bus arriving in Karachi from Charsadda. The monkeys were suspected to have been illegally captured from the forests in Charsadda.

    Authorities are working diligently to ensure the safety and welfare of these rescued monkeys, aiming to return them to their natural habitats or appropriate care facilities.

  • Wall collapse claims 11 lives amid heavy monsoon rains in Islamabad

    Wall collapse claims 11 lives amid heavy monsoon rains in Islamabad

    Islamabad’s Peshawar Road witnessed a devastating incident after heavy monsoon rains led to the collapse of a building’s wall, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of at least 11 individuals on Wednesday, reports Dawn.

    Rescue and police officials said six others were injured in the incident. The bodies of the deceased, believed to be laborers, were recovered from the rubble with the assistance of machinery.

    The bodies were taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), while the injured individuals, one of whom was discharged after receiving first aid, were also brought to the hospital for treatment.

    Heavy rainfall in Islamabad and Rawalpindi has caused waterlogging in low-lying areas, causing disruptions and posing hazards to residents.

    According to an official statement by Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, the collapse occurred when the building’s wall fell onto a tent that the laborers had set up. Efforts were underway to rescue any individuals still trapped in the debris.

    As per details, the laborers were involved in the construction of an underpass on the Grand Trunk Road in the city, as instructed by the National Highway Authority (NHA). However, the NHA issued an official statement denying reports that the collapsed wall was part of the underpass structure.

    The NHA asserted that the underpass walls and construction site were safe and secure, expressing sorrow over the incident and offering prayers for the deceased and their families.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also expressed deep grief and sorrow over the incident and extended prayers for the departed souls. He directed the district administration to remain vigilant in light of the heavy rains.

  • Hyderabad will finally get Rescue 1122 service by 2023

    Hyderabad will finally get Rescue 1122 service by 2023

    Deputy Commissioner of Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro, who also serves as acting Director-General of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA), revealed that Hyderabad would launch its 1122 emergency service by the following year.

    Additionally, Garbage disposal in the city will also become operational by the next month due to the recent contract that has been inked.

    He was addressing the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) members in this location on Tuesday night. The Site area filtration facility, he claimed, had been rendered operational and would shortly be turned over to the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa).

    According to him, Hyderabad’s water quality is superior to Karachi’s. He also noted that the city’s power outages had grown since the introduction of 1000 MW of energy. He claimed the water supply and drainage industries were being impacted.

    He committed to resolving the problems with marriage gardens and reception halls. Underpasses, he added, were also necessary for the metropolis. For the renovation and adornment of roundabouts and greenbelts, he requested the assistance of the business community.

    He gave the business community his word that problems with the fruit market would be taken care of within a timely manner.

    In his welcome speech, HCCI President Adeel Siddiqui noted that rising gas costs, electricity and gas prices, as well as unannounced power outages, were all contributing to a decline in production at small and medium-sized businesses.

    He claimed that industrialists were having difficulties as a result of administrative hurdles. He claimed that the city needed an effective firefighting apparatus. He said that several parts of Latifabad lacked access to even drinkable water.

  • Police rescue woman raped by brother, held hostage for two years

    Police rescue woman raped by brother, held hostage for two years

    The police have rescued a woman from an apartment in Karachi’s Marwari Line of the Ranchore Line neighbourhood after a neighbor hinted that she was imprisoned, Aamir Majeed reported for Samaa News.

    Eidgah Assistant Sub-Inspector Zahid Mehmood told Samaa Digital that they received a complaint on police helpline 15 Madadgar by a man who identified himself as Junaid to make them aware of the suspected hostage in Jannat Bibi Building.

     A police team instantly went to the venue where a large number of people were gathered outside the building. According to ASI Mehmood, when they entered the single-room apartment, there was a very weak woman covered in a bedsheet. The woman was so weak that she could not even walk. She was taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for rehabilitation in an ambulance.

     According to ASI Mehmood, neighbours caught her brother — identified as Iqbal — and handed him over to the police.

    Read More: Woman gang-raped at Lahore hotel for seven days

     An FIR was registered against her brother on the complaint of the victim’s maternal uncle Muhammad Hassan. He told the police that the woman’s parents had passed away and her brother took her with him three years ago and did not contact the extended family. 

     Junaid contacted the police and said that Iqbal was living in an apartment that he had rented two-and-a-half years ago. Everyone knew Iqbal lived with his sister there but no one ever saw her. He claimed that sometimes they heard her crying, but no one interfered, thinking it was a personal matter.

     Junaid told the police that people in the area suspected that something was wrong after someone threw used condoms out of the apartment. Though the apartment was locked, the women of the area tried to look inside through a window. They saw a woman lying naked.

     District City SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz said that a woman medico-legal officer examined the victim.

     “According to the WMLO, the victim was raped,” he confirmed. The police have acquired semen samples from the suspect and sent them for tests. Further investigation is underway.

  • Pakistan Army rescues three mountaineers stranded on Rakaposhi

    Pakistan Army rescues three mountaineers stranded on Rakaposhi

    A Pakistan Army helicopter has rescued three mountaineers who were stranded on Rakaposhi mountain on Wednesday morning, Geo News reported.

    As per details, Pakistani climber, Wajidullah Nagri, and two Czech Republic mountaineers had been stuck at an altitude of 6,900 metres on the mountain for the past five days.

    Taking to Twitter, Deputy Commissioner Nagar Zulqarnain Khan confirmed the news of their rescue.

    He stated that the mountaineers have been moved to Gilgit and thanked the Pakistan Army, Sajid Sadpara and a few climbers from Hunza.

    Talking to Dawn, DC said that the three climbers had begun the climb of Rakaposhi, one of the world’s most challenging peaks, on September 1 from the South Ridge and had summited the mountain on September 9. They began their descent the same day but then got stuck there.

  • Rescue operation starts for three mountaineers stranded on Rakaposhi

    Helicopters sent to rescue three mountaineers stranded on the Rakaposhi mountain of the Karakoram mountain range arrived in Hunza on Sunday and an operation to bring them back is underway, Geo News reported.

    As per reports, the three mountaineers include a Pakistani climber Wajidullah Nagri and Czech Republic mountaineers Jakub Vicek and Peter Macek.

    According to Deputy Commissioner Nagar Zulqarnain Khan, two helicopters arrived in Nagar for rescue operations. He said that the rescue team is in contact with the climbers, who are doing fine.

    The DC added that it will be difficult for a helicopter to go up to a height of 6,900 metres, where the climbers had been stuck, so they have been asked to descend.

    Rescue efforts on the ground are also underway, he said.

    The three mountaineers, two of whom belong to the Czech Republic, had summitted Rakaposhi on September 8, according to the Karakoram Club.

    A tweet by Pamir Times at 7pm on Sunday stated that the rescue operation was put off for the day due to bad weather and will resume today (Monday).

  • Islamabad police rescue children, manage hostage crisis successfully

    Islamabad Police on Sunday rescued two children and arrested the suspect, handling a hostage crisis successfully.

    As per reports, a man forcefully entered a house in the Bara Kahu area of Islamabad and held two children hostage in order to avoid arrest at the hands of the law enforcement authorities (LEAs).

    The police after a successful operation rescued the children and arrested the suspect. The capital police also shared a video of the incident on social media that shows the suspect getting arrested and being shifted with his face covered.

    https://twitter.com/amnaappi/status/1376231401595502592?s=20

    The police also lauded SP Hamza Humayun for successfully leading the operation to rescue the children and managing the entire hostage crisis.

    The two children held hostage were aged three and two years and have been handed over to their parents. One person was injured after the suspect opened fire on him.

    The police have started an inquiry into the entire matter, besides also recording the testimonies of the eye-witnesses in the neighbourhood.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlxxkKBVneg
  • VIDEO: Man in Chitral jumps into river to save baby Markhor from drowning

    VIDEO: Man in Chitral jumps into river to save baby Markhor from drowning

    A young man from Chitral dived into the river to save a baby Markhor from drowning. 

    According to reports, the Markhor was drinking water from the river when it slipped into the deep water. The youth who witnessed the scene, instantly jumped into River Chitral to save it from drowning.

    He successfully rescued the animal from river water. 

    Read more – Injured young markhor released into the wild after treatment

    Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent KP, Lt Gen Muhammad Hamid Khan has appreciated the youth for saving the Markhor. He said the young man put his own life in danger and saved an animal.

    “Red Crescent pays salute to such brave and caring youth,” he added.

  • 3-year old girl rescued alive from underneath debris after 21 hours

    3-year old girl rescued alive from underneath debris after 21 hours

    A three-year-old girl was rescued alive after 21 hours from underneath the debris of a multi-story building that collapsed in Sukkur.

    As per reports, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) officials along with army officers rescued the girl, who miraculously did not even have a scratch on her. She was immediately taken to the city’s Civil Hospital for a medical checkup.

    Five others were also rescued from the debris. According to Sukkur Commissioner Shafiq Ahmed Mahesar, the death toll from the collapse rose to six.

    The four-story building, located on Sukkur’s busy Station Road, was built above a few shops and had four families living there.

    Rescuers initially faced difficulties after the collapse caused a power blackout in the area.

    Commissioner Mahesar who was overseeing the rescue efforts said the building could have collapsed either because poor material was used in its construction or because it was not built according to the approved maps. An investigation will be conducted to determine the real cause behind the collapse.