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29 March 2024

More than 100 people trapped in cable car over French Alps

Published
By AP

As many as 110 people were trapped on a broken cable car Thursday over the French Alps as crews launched a high-altitude rescue, officials said.

The cable car reportedly stopped moving at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet over Chamonix.

Crews from France and Italy were taking part in the rescue as three helicopters rushed to the scene. Police announced the rescue operation on Thursday evening.

Chamonix Mayor Eric Fournier said Thursday that "the people stuck are being evacuated by helicopter" and added that "there's nothing fundamentally to fear."

The passengers were riding in the Vallee Blanche Cable Car, which connects the famed Aiguille du Midi peak to the Pointe Helbronner and takes 30 minutes, a police official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Chamonix, in eastern France, is not far from Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.

It was not immediately clear how or why the cable car stopped moving.

The cable cars on the Mont Blanc range offer spectacular up-close views of Western Europe's tallest mountains, glaciers and steep valleys deep below. The Vallee Blanche Cable Car is operated in the summer season, when large numbers of climbers and tourists converge on the area.

Another series of cable cars takes skiers and visitors to the peak of the Aiguille de Midi year-round.