Pakistan cable car emergency: All passengers safely rescued

A difficult rescue mission in Pakistan has ended successfully after eight people were rescued from a cable car that unexpectedly broke in mid-air.

Six children and two adults were saved from the open-sided cable car near the city of Battagram in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan.

The cable car - known as Dolly to the locals - usually transports passengers across a large valley from Jangri to Batangi, cutting down a journey that would take two hours by foot, to just four minutes by cable car.

Lots of people living there use it to get to school or work, as they did on Tuesday.

After many hours of waiting and a number rescue attempts, all eight of the passengers were saved by rescue teams who used a zip line to carry them to safety.

Pakistan's army said the rescue mission had been "extremely difficult and dangerous", and the country's caretaker prime minister, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, said he was relieved, and thanked all of those involved in the rescue.

What happened?

The cable car is open at both ends, which meant the passengers were at risk of falling out when the car became unstable

They first realised something was wrong at about 07:00 local time in Pakistan (02:00 UK time) on Tuesday.

A group of children and adults were on their way to school when one of the cables pulling the car snapped, leaving the cable car hanging some 275m above the ground. (That's roughly the height of ten 25m swimming pools laid back to back.)

Local people used loudspeakers to let officials know what was happening, but due to difficult flying conditions it took up to four hours for the first rescue helicopter to arrive.

Some of the rescuers early attempts to reach them failed, however some food and water was successfully delivered to the open-sided cable car.

One person was rescued by helicopter, before the decision was made to stop using it.

That's because as well as strong winds, which made it harder for the pilot to control the helicopter, there were concerns the air waves coming off the helicopter's rotor blades could shake the cable car making it less stable and causing the passengers inside to accidentally tip out of it.

The rescuers continued their efforts, and with the help of zip line experts and local people on the ground, built a zip-line system, using clips and safety harnesses, to retrieve the passengers and rescue everyone safely.

Crowds of people who had gathered to help, cheered on the rescuers as the last people were saved.

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar says he has ordered all privately-operated cable cars and lifts to be inspected for safety to make sure nothing similar happens again.