GILGIT, July 15: Eight people drowned after a cable car they were using to cross the Indus River broke and fell into the water in Gais valley, some 25km off Chilas town, on Sunday, police said.

Police quoted eyewitnesses as saying chain snapped halfway over the river as the trolley was overburdened with eight people more than its capacity.

Administration officials said the search and rescue operation immediately got underway but no one had yet been retrieved from the water. They said due to sharp increase in water level in the river, rescuers faced grave difficulties.

The GB Works Minister Bashir Ahmed, while addressing a hurriedly called press conference, said the executive engineer, sub-divisional engineer and sub-engineer of public works department had been suspended for criminal negligence. A high level inquiry had also been initiated against them, he added.

The minister pointed out that the villagers, despite identifying fault in the chain trolley, did not pay heed towards its overhauling. He also held the villagers responsible for the tragedy as he said government had instantly constructed a foot bridge after the suspension bridge at the river was washed way, but the villagers kept using the chain trolley.

He said Rescue 1122 workers had been dispatched from Gilgit to retrieve bodies while police and local volunteers had been spread from the site of the incident to Kohistan district.