Six kids, two teachers stuck in cable car 900ft above ravine in Pakistan

An “extremely risky” rescue mission was underway in Pakistan on Tuesday to try to save six schoolkids and two teachers who’d been stranded for nine hours in a cable car dangling 900 feet over a ravine.

The group has been stranded since 7 a.m. local time when the gondola taking them to a school in mountainous Battagram suddenly snapped, with terrifying images showing it dangling by a single cable.

“One child has fainted due to heat and fear,” said rescue official Shariq Riaz Khattak.

The unconscious student is just 16 years old, and has a heart condition, one of the trapped teachers, 20-year-old Gulfraz, told Geo News by phone.

“For God’s sake, help us,” the instructor pleaded.

Officials approved an “extremely risky” helicopter operation, but were hampered by high winds, the National Disaster Management Authority explained.

The rescue effort is also complicated by the fact that the helicopter blades could inadvertently sever the remaining cable, Khattak said.

Army commandos could be seen on local TV trying to lower themselves on ropes from the choppers toward the cable car.

Rescue teams are also trying to spread nets underneath the cable car, official Jawad Hussein told the Dawn newspaper.

Heart-stopping images show locals gathered nearby watching the gondola hang perilously about halfway across the steep ravine.

“We don’t even have drinking water in the chairlift,” Gulfraz told Geo News. “The first cable broke down after the chairlift traveled a mile.”

Later in the day, a military officer was spotted descending from a helicopter to give the group food, water, and medicine.

The students are all between 10 and 16 years old, Gulfraz added.

Chair lifts are a common method of transportation in the area.

“The chairlift is used to go from one place to another. In this area, 150 children come to school by chairlift,” another local teacher told Geo News.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar called the accident “really alarming.”

“I have directed the NDMA, PDMA and district authorities to urgently ensure safe rescue and evacuation of the 8 people stuck in the chairlift…I have also directed the authorities to conduct safety inspections of all such private chairlifts and ensure that they are safe to operate and use,” he tweeted.

With Post wires