Seven students and one teacher are trapped in a cable car dangling high above a ravine in Pakistan on Tuesday after a line snapped, with authorities racing against fading light in an "extremely dangerous" rescue operation hampered by high winds.

The students have been stuck in the cable car since 7 a.m. (0200 GMT) when they were travelling to school in a remote mountainous area in Battagram, about 200 km (125 miles) north of Islamabad, officials said.

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said in a statement that a cable had broken in the lift service and two army helicopters had been dispatched for a rescue operation after attempts at fixing the fault had been unsuccessful.