PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Army commandos using helicopters and a makeshift chairlift rescued eight people from a broken cable car as it dangled hundreds of meters (feet) above a canyon Tuesday in a remote, mountainous part of Pakistan, authorities said.

The six children and two adults became trapped earlier in the day when a cable snapped while they were crossing a river canyon in the Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children were on their way to school.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar congratulated the military and other rescuers for the success. The dramatic effort transfixed the country for hours as Pakistanis crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and hospitals.

“Relieved to know that … all the kids have been successfully and safely rescued,” Kakar said on X, the service formerly known as Twitter. “Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people.”

Because helicopters could not fly after sunset, rescuers eventually shifted from an airborne effort to a risky operation that involved using one cable that was still intact to approach the car with the chairlift.

In a statement, the military said the rescue operation was delicate and involved the commandos, pilots from the army and air force and the support of local authorities.

Television footage showed a child in a harness being pulled to safety. The commandos’ rope could be seen swaying in the wind against the mountainous landscape.

An expert described the helicopter rescues as extremely delicate because the wind generated by the helicopter blades could further weaken the remaining cables holding the car aloft.

In 2017, 10 people were killed when a cable car fell into a ravine hundreds of meters (feet) deep in the popular mountain resort of Murree after its cable broke.