Archive · 30 Aug 2026
Documentary Revisits Pakistan’s Dramatic 2023 Cable Car Rescue
In 2023, eight people became trapped in a small cable car above a deep ravine in Pakistan.
The group included six schoolchildren and two adults.
They stayed there for more than 15 hours after a cable broke.
Villagers filmed the emergency and shared the videos online.
The videos helped people around the country and the world learn about the danger.
Army rescuers used helicopters to bring everyone down safely.
Filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi made a documentary about the rescue and the community.
The film also asks whether attention from the news leads to lasting help.
Naqvi is working with a nonprofit to support schooling and small village projects.
On August 22, 2023, a cable snapped while six children and two adults crossed a ravine in Battagram.
The passengers dangled about 274 metres above the ground for more than 15 hours.
Villagers posted footage on TikTok and Instagram, helping attract national and international attention.
Pakistan’s Army Special Services Group rescued all eight passengers using helicopters and sling operations.
Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s 77-minute documentary examines community resilience and what happens after news cameras leave.
- Who
- Six schoolchildren and two adults were trapped; villagers, rescuers, police, military personnel and families were involved. Filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi made the documentary.
- What
- A cable snapped on a makeshift chairlift, leaving eight passengers stranded until a military-led rescue brought them down.
- When
- The incident occurred on August 22, 2023. The documentary was filmed over roughly two years and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
- Where
- The rescue took place in the Allai Tehsil area of Battagram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
- Why
- The cable car was used because it provided essential access in a remote area where the same journey could take more than two hours on foot; the documentary also explores the community’s resilience and continuing needs.
Immediate Media Attention
Long-Term Community Support
Role of publicity
Immediate Media Attention
Villagers said the live footage made people pay attention and may have helped ensure that their crisis was not ignored.
Long-Term Community Support
Naqvi said public attention faded after the passengers were saved, with people leaving and returning to their daily lives.
Purpose of the documentary
Immediate Media Attention
The rescue itself already had the drama of an action thriller, with the community and rescuers displaying courage.
Long-Term Community Support
Naqvi presents the film as an advocacy and social-justice project focused on what happens to the community after the news cycle ends.
Cable cars in the village
Immediate Media Attention
The makeshift lifts are unsafe and leave passengers vulnerable when equipment fails.
Long-Term Community Support
Residents rely on them because they are essential in the remote region; traveling on foot can take more than two hours instead of about one minute by cable car.
- Passengers
- Six schoolchildren and two adults
- Rescue duration
- More than 15 hours
- Height above ground
- Approximately 274 metres, or 900 feet
- Rescue force
- Pakistan’s Army Special Services Group
- Documentary length
- 77 minutes
- Filmmaker
- Mohammed Ali Naqvi
- Community support
- Naqvi is working with Seattle-based nonprofit One Good Act on schooling and small infrastructure projects