Six children among 8 trapped as cable car dangles over deep Pakistan valley

A representational photo shows tourists wait to board on a cable car at the Patriata Resort near Murree, some 65 km form Islamabad on August 16, 2020. (AFP/File)

• Children were using the chairlift to cross the valley to get to school
• Pakistan Army has been asked to carry out helicopter rescue mission

ISLAMABAD: Six children were among eight people trapped inside a cable car dangling over a deep Pakistan valley on Tuesday, officials said.
The children were using the chairlift to cross the valley to get to school when a cable broke at a height of up to 1,200 feet (about 365 metres) midway through its journey in a remote mountainous region.
"The chairlift is suspended by a single rope. Within the chairlift, there are a minimum of eight occupants primarily consisting of schoolchildren," Abdul Basit Khan, a senior official for the provincial rescue agency, told AFP.
The National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement six children and two adults were on board at a height of at least 900 feet, and that the Pakistan Army had been asked to carry out a helicopter rescue mission.
Syed Hammad Haider, a senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial official, said the cable car was hanging about 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the ground.
"We have requested the KP government to provide a helicopter because the relief activity is not possible without the help of a helicopter," he said.