A military rescue is under way for six children and two adults trapped in a cable car over a ravine in Pakistan's north-west.
The group were on their way to school when one of the cables snapped, leaving it dangling 274m (900ft) above ground, officials said.
Pakistan's acting PM has ordered rescuers to attend to the "alarming" incident in Battagram.
Helicopters have reached the car but rescue conditions are precarious.
The eight passengers were trapped for at least four hours before the first helicopter arrived, local media outlet Dawn reported.
The incident happened at about 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday across the Allai valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Residents who spotted the car stranded mid-air used loudspeakers to alert local officials to the crisis.
The open chair-lift is now being "suspended by a single rope", local rescue official Abdul Basit Khan told AFP news agency.
A local police officer, Muhammad Amjad, who was at the scene told BBC News that four helicopters have so far taken part in the operation but attempts were unsuccessful.
A commando has tried twice to reach the cable car by the help of rope from the military helicopter, assistant commissioner of Allai Jawad Hussain told the BBC.
According to Mr Hussain, water and some food has been delivered to the stranded people by the rescue team from the helicopter.
In addition to gusty winds, the operation is being complicated by worries that the helicopter's rotor blades could further destabilise the chair-lift, Shariq Riaz Khattak, a rescue official at the site, told Reuters news agency.
The six children on board the cable car are aged between 10 and 16 years old.
The 16 year old has a heart condition and has been unconscious for at least two hours, Gulfaraz, one of the adults stuck in the cable car, told the BBC.
Rescue worker Mr Khattak confirmed that a child had fainted due to heat and fear.
"For God's sake help us," Gulfaraz told Pakistan television channel Geo News by phone.
Gulfaraz noted that anxious crowds had gathered on either side of the valley to watch the mission. Authorities are trying to spread nets underneath the car.
"People in our area are standing here and crying," Gulfaraz said, urging authorities to send immediate help.
There aren't many daylight hours left to do the rescue since sunset in Battagram is expected at 18:48 local time (13:48 GMT).
BBC Weather's Paul Goddard said the local forecast showed hot and humid conditions throughout Tuesday and Wednesday with continued gusty winds, as well as a few periods of heavy rain or thunderstorms. Maximum temperatures were expected to be around 33C (91F) over the next three days.
Headmaster Ali Asghar Khan, who runs the high school the children attend, said relatives of those trapped in the cable car are also at the scene.
"The parents are gathered at the site of the chair-lift. We are all worried," Mr Khan told AFP news agency.
A local teacher told Dawn that about 150 people take the hazardous journey to school by cable car daily because of a lack of transport options in the area.
Allai is a mountainous area, located at an altitude of 2000m above sea level. Settlements are spread far and wide.
Most of this mountainous area in Pakistan's north has no infrastructure like roads and basic facilities. In most of the area chair-lifts are used regularly for transportation from one mountain to another.
The chair-lift involved in this incident is believed to be privately operated by residents, local media reported.
Pakistan's acting prime minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said on X (formerly Twitter) that he has directed the relevant authorities to inspect all such privately-operated chairlifts to ensure that they are safe for use.
"The chairlift accident in Battagram is really alarming," he said.
Additional reporting from Ece Goksedef in London
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2023-08-22 11:14:02Z
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