The eight people who were stuck in a cable car for many hours above a ravine in Pakistan’s north-west have now been rescued.

During a slow and dangerous operation, a military helicopter rescued one child, while teams on the ground recovered the rest after dark.

On top of the hillside, a huge crowd celebrated their rescue as they were rescued along a zip line.

One of the car’s cables snapped as the group was driving to school.

In high winds, it hung precariously across 274m (900ft) above the ground.

Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, expressed relief and thanked all those involved.

The Pakistani army described the rescue mission as “extremely dangerous and difficult”.

An incident occurred near the city of Battagram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at about 7:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Two adults and six children between the ages of 10 and 16 were trapped.

An adult on board named Gulfaraz told local media that one of the children, a teenage boy, had a heart condition and was unconscious for several hours.

The same child fainted due to “heat and fear”, a rescue worker told Reuters.

Locals call the cable car “Dolly” since it connects Jangri to Batangi, where the school is located.

A two-hour road journey through mountainous terrain can be cut down to four minutes with a car in the Allai valley.

Dolly was making its fifth trip of the day when the cable snapped.

Local media outlet Dawn reported that residents used loudspeakers to alert authorities to the crisis, but it took at least four hours for the first rescue helicopter to arrive.

Hundreds of people, including relatives of those trapped, gathered along the ravine to watch military helicopters lower commandos to the stranded car against the strong winds.

The first attempts to reach them failed, but some food and water were delivered.