Cable car nightmare! Dozens stranded high in the French Alps after gusts of wind derail gondolas between Grenoble and Bastille
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A dramatic helicopter rescue saved 37 people who became stuck mid-trip on a set of cable cars running from the Alps city of Grenoble to Bastille.
Sudden gusts of wind were blamed for causing the cars, known as Les Bulles (bubbles), to become derailed around 7pm on Sunday.
Worst fears: Dozens of people were left hanging in cable cars over over the French Alps city of Grenoble
Rescue: The 37 stranded people were either lifted by helicopter or helped to abseil to the ground
Local emergency services' rescue was straight out of the movies, with some of the stranded riders lifted out by helicopter while others abseiled down to the ground.
'We were a little scared, but it all went quite fast,' a rescued passenger going by the name Christian told BFM TV. 'We just thought, will the cables hold? Or are we going to end up on the ground?'
Derailed: The cable cars, or bubbles (Les Bulles), came unhinged after sudden gusts of wind
Great view: The cable car takes people to Bastille from the town centre of Grenoble, in southern France
Les bulles has been running since September 1934 and takes in the stunning views of Grenoble, France's flattest city, and the Isere river on its way up to the former fortress of Bastille.
The journey in the cars - which are between at 863ft and 1,581ft above the ground - takes three to four minutes from start to finish.
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