8 People Trapped from Broken Cable Car in Pakistan

Pakistan – All eight people have been pulled to safety from a broken cable car which had been dangling 274m (900ft) over a river canyon in Pakistan for more than 15 hours, officials have said.

Seven youngsters, aged between 11 and 15, and their teacher had been trapped in the gondola following the incident which started when a cable line snapped as the group were travelling to school.

Two of the children were rescued in the daytime by army commandos using helicopters, before the rest were also saved one by one during an even riskier night-time operation with a makeshift chairlift that used the working cable to get to the stricken carriage, as reported from News sky.

Television footage earlier showed a child being lifted off the gondola in a harness by a helicopter and then carried to the ground.

Commandos could be seen on TV trying to lower themselves on ropes from choppers towards the compartment, which was hanging precariously at an angle.

The helicopter operation was then called off as night fell with six people still inside the cabin in a remote mountainous area in Battagram district, about 125 miles north of the capital Islamabad.

Flood lights were installed on the ground and the others were saved as the operation continued in the dark.