Tangled cable auto lines have left scores of tourists stranded overnight, hanging above the glaciers of Mont Blanc in the Alps.
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At least three children were trapped with their respective families as rescue workers conducted regular check-ins and phone calls throughout the night, said Iain Cleaver, an employee of Mont-Blanc Company, which operates the cable cars.
Helicopters rescued 65 of them, but 45 had to be left there overnight after operations were halted because of rough flight conditions.
110 people were onboard when the cable vehicle stopped, but 77 were rescued by helicopter before nightfall on Thursday, when poor visibility made it too risky for rescuers to continue.
The cable cars join the Aiguille de Midi summit in France, at 3,842m (12,605feet), to Pointe Helbronner in Italy, at 3,462m (11,358feet) and offer a panoramic view of Mont Blanc.
On Friday morning Mr Cazeneuve congratulated all the teams involved in the operation.
A team of engineers worked from dawn to untangle the wires and managed to restart the cable auto early on Friday morning.
Mathieu Dechavanne, president of the company running the cable cars, said a tow cable crossed over the main support cable in three places – a common occurrence – but this time it stalled the cars because the tangles couldn’t immediately be fixed at all three points.
“We were forced to stop rescue operations at 8.45pm” for safety reasons, the dark and the weather making it too risky, he said, adding that they were not able to “guarantee the safety of the pilots, rescuers and the people stuck in the cars”.
Around 50 people were rescued by helicopters yesterday evening and others were able to climb out, but the rescue operation had to be suspended over night due to hazardous conditions.
Dozens of people were therefore forced to spend the night at an altitude of about 12,468ft in sub-zero temperatures.
“We were there nearly 10 hours in the cable auto”, Kathy Cook, an American tourist from MI, told The Associated Press after she was among the first group to be lowered to the ground. “We are very relieved that we are back safely and our prayers are for people to be safe as soon as possible”.
The cables are believed to have got tangled in high winds, the BBC said.
Those who were brought down Thursday night described an extraordinarily tense and risky rescue operation.
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A tourist from Australia posted a picture on Instagram after riding the cable vehicle in Chamonix earlier.
