On Friday, three people drowned after a chairlift collapsed and fell into the Indus River in Seo Tehsil, Upper Kohistan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to officials.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Abdur Rehman told that the chairlift plunged into the river when the foundations supporting it collapsed on both sides. The supports had weakened due to high water levels in the river over the past two days.
Dasu Station House Officer (SHO) Khalilur Rehman confirmed that “three persons drowned in the river following the fall.” The chairlift was used by residents of Kama village and linked them to Dasu city.
Rescue 1122 identified the victims as Muhammad Sher, Fidaur Rehman, and Mir Alam, all residents of Kaiga. The victims were returning to their village from Dasu when the accident occurred. Efforts to locate the bodies are ongoing.
The Kohistan administration requested additional assistance from a Rescue 1122 team in Shangla, though strong river currents complicated the search operation.
Makeshift cable cars are common in KP and Gilgit-Baltistan, where they connect towns and villages in areas where roads or bridges are impractical due to the terrain.
Last month, on July 23, a man drowned in the Indus River near Bisham while attempting to rescue his son, who was trapped on a chairlift. Eyewitness Mansoor Ali Khan reported that the father, Muhammad Aziz, fell into the river when the rope he was using snapped. The boy remained stranded but was later rescued by locals.
In a similar incident last year, eight people, including six children, were stranded in a chairlift in KP’s Battagram after the lift’s wires snapped. The chairlift hung over a deep ravine for hours before being rescued by the army and locals.
