Last updated 8.17pm 

Military helicopters and zipline experts on Tuesday rescued eight people, including six school children, trapped for hours in a stricken cable car high above a remote Pakistan valley.

The daring rescue began with a helicopter plucking two children to safety after almost 12 hours in the air as daylight faded, but the chopper was forced back to base in the dark. 

Then rescuers used the cable keeping the gondola from plunging into the valley as a zipline to rescue the rest of those stranded late into Tuesday night. 

"The rescue operation has been completed. The two adults were the last to be rescued," Bilal Faizi, from the Pakistan emergency service Rescue 1122.

The military confirmed the rescue efforts had successfully concluded.

A video of the first rescue showed a teenager in a harness hanging at the bottom of a swinging rope under a helicopter as crowds cheered with relief. 

Rescuers set up a temporary camp on a mountaintop and were providing first aid, Faizi said.

The six children had been on their way to school when the cable car broke down at around 7:00 am (0200 GMT) midway through its journey, hanging above the lush green Allai valley. 

Residents used mosque loudspeakers to alert neighbourhood officials of the emergency and hundreds of people gathered on both sides of the ravine -- hours away from any sizeable town -- to watch the drama unfold. 

Several military helicopters had earlier in the day flown sorties and an airman was lowered by a harness to deliver food, water and medicine, Rehman, the official, told AFP.

"Great team work by the military, rescue departments, district administration as well as the local people," caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar posted on X.

He earlier issued a directive for all chairlifts in mountainous areas to be inspected and for those that are not safe to be immediately closed.