Six children among eight trapped inside chairlift dangling 900ft in mid-air after cable snaps
SIX schoolchildren and two men are trapped inside a chairlift dangling 900ft in the air over a deep valley in Pakistan.
Rescue efforts are underway to save the eight desperate people onboard after one of the cables snapped during their ride.
It has been left suspended in mid-air high above a river canyon in the Allai Tehsil area of the Khyber Pakthtunkhawa province in India.
The group have currently been stuck inside the contraption for six hours, a spokesman for the disaster management authority said.
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar ordered a helicopter to be dispatched to the site to aid rescue efforts.
It was hoped that the six terrified children and two men could possibly be plucked out of the chairlift to safety.
“Mid-air, two wires of the cable car snapped leaving them stuck at a height of approximately 3,000 feet (914 metres),“ said local official Mufti Gulamullah.
Rescuers are struggling to reach the cable car due to the sheer height they are stuck at.
It is privately run by a resident for transportation across a local river, as there are no roads or bridges to use.
The chairlift connects villages in the Battagram district and is often used by local villages to cross the water.
It significantly shortens the journey time to nearby schools, government offices and other businesses.
Cable cars are a popular mode of transport in Pakistan’s mountainous regions, although they are often poorly maintained.
In 2017, ten people plunged to their death when a chairlift installed by locals in Murree broke and fell into a deep ravine.
More to follow…For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at Sun Online.The-sun.com is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheUSSun.