Pakistani emergency workers are trying to rescue six children and two men who became trapped in a cable car after one of its cables snapped, leaving it dangling hundreds of feet above the ground.
The group, who were crossing a river canyon in Battagram district in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had already been stranded for hours before rescuers arrived in helicopters to try to free them.
Local TV showed army commandos trying to lower themselves on ropes towards the cable car.
An expert warned that the rescue operation is incredibly delicate because the wind created by the helicopters’ blades could further weaken cables holding the car.
Relatives of those trapped prayed while anxiously watching the operation unfold. The rescue also transfixed Pakistanis across the country who watched on television.
Villagers frequently use cable cars to get to school, government offices or businesses in Pakistan’s mountainous regions, but they are often poorly maintained and every year people die or are injured while travelling in them.
Helicopters were sent to attempt to pluck the group from the cable car – but only after they had spent six hours precariously suspended 1,150ft (350m) above the ground, according to Taimoor Khan, a spokesman for the disaster management authority.
Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, ordered the helicopter rescue, Mr Khan said.
Tipu Sultan, a retired army brigadier and defence expert, warned that the helicopters themselves could make the situation worse but that the commandos would be well aware of that risk.
Mr Khan added that the pilots were flying “carefully”.
“Let us pray that those trapped in the cable car are safely rescued,” Mr Sultan said.
In 2017, 10 people were killed when a cable car fell into a ravine hundreds of feet deep in the popular mountain resort of Murree after its cable broke.
