Dozens of tourists stuck in French Alps cable cars rescued

Crews on Friday rescued dozens of tourists who had been stuck overnight in a cable vehicle suspended almost 12,500 feet above a glacier between the French and Italian Alps.

The operation to rescue the remaining tourists resumed on Friday morning after rescuers managed to restart the cars by relaxing the tension of the tangled cables.

But views of Mont Blanc while you are stuck in a cable vehicle about 12,000 feet in the air probably seem a little less stunning.

Mr Dechavanne said the cable cars each had a survival kit with cereal bars, water and survival blankets, and that each auto was contacted by phone to explainthe situation.

The terraces of Aiguille du Midi, which is nearly 12,400 feet high, offer a 360-degree view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps.

The cable cars connect the Aiguille de Midi peak in France, at 3,842m (12,605ft), to Pointe Helbronner in Italy, at 3,462m (11,358ft) and offer a panoramic view of Mont Blanc, the BBC reported.

More than 30 tourists were trapped throughout the night in cable cars thousands of meters up in the French Alps on Thursday.

This story was first published on CNN.com, “Trapped passengers rescued from French Alps cable cars”.

France 3 TV said the cables had become tangled in high winds.

He said the remaining passengers could now be rescued without the use of helicopters.

The cable vehicle connects Aiguille du Midi peak on the French side of the mountain and the Helbronner summit on the Italian border.

The tourists rescued are understood to be French, Italian and American.

“I’ve done a lot of cable cars in my time and this one was definitely the fastest and bouncier”, Louise Banks told CNN. The trip typically takes about 30 minutes.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve blamed a “technical incident” but provided no further details.

Dozens of tourists had to spend the night in cable cars suspended over the mountain when the machines stopped working.

The employees of the company were not able to fix the cars, forcing an evacuation operation to begin around 5:00pm.