India's squads for the ODI and Test series against New Zealand were announced on Friday. Before those assignments, the two teams will face off in a five-match T20I series, beginning on October 22. For India, the most crucial leg of the tour will be the two-Test series as they continue their push for a place in the World Test Championship 2027 final. New Zealand have enjoyed a significant edge over India in recent Test encounters, winning six of their last eight matches against them. Jasprit Bumrah has been included in India's Test squad after being rested for the ODI series. The star pacer, who has battled injury concerns in recent years, is expected to be a key weapon for India. However, former New Zealand fast bowler Tim Southee offered an interesting perspective on Bumrah's impact. Southee pointed out that, somewhat surprisingly, Bumrah has never been part of an Indian team that has defeated New Zealand in a Test match. He added that the Kiwis are well aware of how...
Military helicopters and zipline experts on Tuesday rescued eight people, including six school children, trapped for hours in a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistan valley.
The daring rescue began with a helicopter plucking two children to safety after almost 12 hours in the air as daylight faded, but the chopper was forced back to base in the dark.
Then rescuers used the cable keeping the gondola from plunging into the valley as a zipline to rescue the rest of those stranded late into Tuesday night.
"The rescue operation has been completed. The two adults were the last to be rescued," Bilal Faizi, from the Pakistan emergency service Rescue 1122.
The military confirmed the rescue efforts had successfully concluded.
A video of the first rescue showed a teenager in a harness hanging at the bottom of a swinging rope under a helicopter as crowds cheered with relief.
Rescuers set up a temporary camp on a mountaintop and were providing first aid, Faizi said.
The six children had been on their way to school when the chairlift broke down at around 7:00 am (0200 GMT) midway through its journey, hanging above the lush green Allai valley.
Residents used mosque loudspeakers to alert neighbourhood officials of the emergency and hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the ravine -- hours away from any sizeable town -- to watch the drama unfold.
Several military helicopters had earlier in the day flown sorties and an airman was lowered by a harness to deliver food, water and medicine, Rehman, the official, told AFP.
"Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people," caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar posted on X.
He earlier issued a directive for all chairlifts in mountainous areas to be inspected and for those that are not safe to be immediately closed.
"What can they do?"
Earlier in the day, as the rescue operation unfolded, headmaster Ali Asghar Khan told AFP by phone that the children were teenage boys and students at his government high school Battangi Pashto.
"The school is located in a mountainous area and there are no safe crossings, so it's common to use the chairlift," Khan said.
"The parents are gathered at the site of the chairlift. What can they do? They are waiting for the rescue officials to get their children out. We are all worried."
Abid Ur Rehman, a teacher from another school in the area, said around 500 people had gathered to watch the rescue mission.
"Parents and women are crying for the safety of their children," he told AFP.
Syed Hammad Haider, a senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial official, said the gondola was hanging about 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the ground.
Cable cars that carry passengers -- and sometimes even cars -- are common across the northern areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Gilgit-Baltistan, and are vital in connecting villages and towns in areas where roads cannot be built.
In 2017, 10 people were killed when a chairlift cable broke, sending passengers plunging into a ravine in a mountain hamlet near the capital Islamabad.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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