45 people will be spending the night in the Vallee Blanche Cable Car at 12,468-feet above Mont Blanc, France tonight according to Georges-Francois Leclerc, the prefect of the Haute-Savoie region.

Georges-Francois reports that 110 people were initially stranded when 2 cables that the gondola hangs on became crossed.  65 people were airlifted out by helicopters today but the operation was suspended at sunset due to darkness.

“We succeeded in evacuating, in very difficult conditions, 60 people in an hour-and-a-half.

“We had to suspend the air transport rescue at nightfall.”

“They have water and some means of communication but are beginning to find it’s taking a long time.” – George-Francois Leclerc, told AFP news agency

45 people will spend the night in those gondolas tonight…

The rescue operation will continue in the at 6:30am on Friday morning.

Swiss and Italian rescue personnel are assisting in the rescue that involves 3 helicopters.

Tourists ride this cable to car to acquire stunning views of Mt. Blanc.

VALLEE BLANCHE CABLE CAR INFO:

The Vallée Blanche Cable Car (Italian: Funivia dei Ghiacciai) (French: Télécabine Panoramic Mont-Blanc), (previously Télécabine de la Vallée Blanche), is a passenger cable car linking a mountain peak above Courmayeur (Italy) to a peak above Chamonix (France) by passing over the Mont Blanc massif, in the Alps. The engineering was developed by Vittorio Zignoli of Polytechnic University of Turin. No helicopters were used, and all the workers were chosen among locals and alpine guides. After a construction period of four years, it began service in 1958.

The cable car connects the peaks of Aiguille du Midi (3,778 m (12,395 ft) altitude) and Pointe Helbronner (3,466 m (11,371 ft) altitude), over a distance of some 5 km (3.1 mi). This tourist attraction spans the valleys between the two peaks, high above the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which carries automotive passenger and freight traffic under the two peaks. – Wikipedia