A rescue is under way in Pakistan for eight people – including six children – trapped in a cable car dangling over a valley in the country’s north-west.

The children were making their way to school when one of the cables snapped, leaving the car hanging 274m (900 ft) above ground, officials said.

Pakistan’s acting PM has ordered rescuers to attend the “really alarming” incident in Battagram.

Military helicopters have reached the car but the rescue’s status is unclear.

The eight passengers were trapped for more than four hours before a military rescue helicopter arrived, local media outlet Dawn.com reported. The incident happened at around 07:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

“For God’s sake help us,” Gulfraz, a man stuck in the cable car, told Pakistan television channel Geo News by phone. He confirmed eight people were on board.

“The cable car is stuck in a place where it is almost impossible to help without a helicopter,” Zulfiqar Khan, an official with Pakistan’s 1122 rescue service, told AFP.

A local teacher told Dawn.com that about 150 people take the hazardous journey to school by cable car daily because of a lack of transport infrastructure in the area.