Dozens trapped in cable cars stuck above the French Alps

A file photo shows a family on a cable car above the French Alps.
(Image credit: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images)

It's going to be a long night for the 45 people stuck in cable cars over the French Alps.

Officials say the cars became stuck Thursday when cables crossed for "unknown reasons," leaving more than 100 people trapped in cable cars 12,468 feet above the glaciers of Mont Blanc. Italian, Swiss, and French rescuers were able to rescue 60 people by air before nightfall, Georges-Francois Leclerc, the prefect of the Haute-Savoie region, told the BBC. The operation had to stop once it became dark, and it will resume in the morning.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.