Pakistani officials were scrambling a rescue effort on Tuesday after seven schoolchildren and an adult were left hanging dangerously for hours in a cable car at an altitude of 6,500 feet after two of its cables broke.
The cable car, which travels over a stream, is a regular mode of transport for residents of the mountainous northern region, and the children, ages 10 to 12, were en route to a nearby school.
As panic gripped the passengers and their families, they issued urgent pleas for assistance.
The authorities sent an army helicopter to the site, and video on local television showed it hovering above the cable car at some distance as a commando slid down a rope and delivered food and water.
But as the helicopter tried to get closer to the cable car, the car seemed to begin shaking heavily, which appeared to make an air rescue difficult.
Locations:
Allai, Battagram, Khyber, Pakhthunkwa Province