As many as 110 people were trapped yesterday in a cable car on Mont Blanc. At dawn, when rescue operations resumed, 16 people still remained to be rescued.
Various climbers, but also families with children on vacation were forced to spend the night suspended at over 3 meters of altitude. Due to a breakdown, since yesterday afternoon they have been stuck in the French gondola lift that connects the Aiguille du Midi stations (3.842 metres) to Punta Helbronner (3.462 metres), on the border with Italy.
Over eighty people evacuated by rescuers with helicopters or with ropes lowered for more than 50 meters on the glacier, in a treacherous area due to the numerous crevasses. Two Aosta Valley mountain guides, taken by helicopter to two cabins in the afternoon, worked until late in the evening with their French colleagues to bring blankets and material useful for spending the night at high altitude to the stranded people.
The alarm went off at 16.30, when the cables crossed, perhaps due to the wind. Among the many still blocked, some signs of anguish began to be felt at sunset, faced with the prospect of spending the night hanging from cables, prey to gusts of wind.
At 8 in the morning, the news arrived that the cableway was back in operation. The nightmare at high altitude is now over.
