Nearly 75 people who were stuck on a tourist cable car in Quito for 10 hours due to a power problem were rescued and taken to the ground “unharmed”, City Hall said in a statement on Friday.
• Also read: ‘It’s dark and not particularly hot’: Quebecers stuck in cable car in Ecuador for 10 hours
Some “48 passengers who were in the upper part, the terminal at around 4,000 meters, “were taken to safety; 17 people were rescued in the cabins and 10 other people were paralyzed due to an electrical problem when the cable car returned to service.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday at the 2.5-kilometer tourist attraction, which rises from 3,100 meters to almost 4,000 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest peaks in the world, and has been in operation in Quito since 2005.
Local authorities said Thursday evening that 78 people were trapped, without specifying whether any of them were foreigners.
Pictures released by City Hall and the fire department showed people being rescued in the middle of the night and being pulled out of the huts with ropes.
In March, the cable car was also temporarily paralyzed due to bad weather.