“I thought it was my last day and it was over for me“, one of the children who was on the cable car over a ravine in Pakistan, reports to the BBC, describing the ordeal he experienced. “When the lift was halfway up, its rope broke. It was hanging and I was terrified,” Ataullah Shah said.

All eight people were eventually rescued in an operation that lasted more than 12 hours.

A military helicopter rescued one trapped child, while zip line experts transported the rest of the group after dark.

The children were on their way to school when two of the cable cars broke

It was left hanging dangerously 274 meters (900 feet) above the ground while strong winds were blowing in the area.

“It was like a big disaster for the area,” said Fahim Uddin Shah, uncle of one of the rescued children. “Everyone ran out of their houses. A child from almost every household was on the cable car,” he added.

Pakistan’s military said the rescue mission was “extremely difficult and dangerous”.

The incident occurred on Tuesday morning near Battagram town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Six children, aged between 10 and 16, were trapped along with two adults.

One of the children, a teenage boy, he has a heart condition and was unconscious for several hourssaid one of the adults on the cable car.

A child also fainted due to “heat and fear“, one of the rescuers told Reuters news agency, although it was not clear if it was the same child.

The cable car connects Jangri village to Batangi, where the school is located.

The cable car is a popular and cheap mode of transport for local residents since the journey by road takes hours.

When the cable suddenly snapped, the cable car was making its fifth run of the day.

Residents used loudspeakers to alert authorities, but it took at least four hours for the first rescue helicopter to reach the remote location, local media outlet Dawn reported.

Worried relatives of those trapped quickly gathered along the ravine, watching as military helicopters battled strong winds to get the trapped people down.

Several of the first attempts to approach the cable car failed, but they managed to deliver food and water.

Pakistan

In addition to gale-force winds, there were concerns that the helicopter’s propeller could further destabilize the cable car, and as night fell the operation was suspended.

However, rescuers continued their efforts with the help of zip line experts and local people on the ground.

Allai is a mountainous region, located at an altitude of 2000m above sea level. Settlements are scattered everywhere and there is little infrastructure such as roads and basic facilities.

In most of the area, makeshift lifts and cable cars are regularly used to transport from one mountain to another.

The cable car in question is privately operated by residents, local media reported.

It remains unclear how the cables on the cable car broke, but the accident demonstrates the need for further inspection of the cable cars widely used in Pakistan.