Commuters Rescued From Stranded New York Cable Cars

Police today completed the rescue of 68 people trapped in two New York commuter cable cars for more than 10 hours following a power failure last night.

The passengers were on what should have been a routine five-minute journey on North America's only urban commuter cable car system, which shuttles passengers between Manhattan and Roosevelt Island.

They became trapped when the two cars lost power at around 5.20pm (2220 BST) yesterday. One car was left dangling high over Manhattan and the other over the East River.

Some passengers were trapped for almost 11 hours, with the last one rescued at around 4am local time.

Police worked through the night, using a diesel-powered rescue gondola to get to within a few feet of the cars before hoisting the passengers out one at a time.

By around 2.30am local time, they had rescued the 46 passengers in the car stuck over the river, with the 22 in the car over Manhattan having to wait longer before being freed.

There were no reports of injuries, and passengers later told reporters there had been a positive atmosphere inside the stuck cars.

At least a dozen of those stranded were school-age children or babies. Police delivered food, water and diapers as the passengers waited to be rescued.

Robbyn Maier said her 12-year-old son, Dax, had been travelling to Roosevelt Island to play tennis when he got stuck. She spoke to him by mobile phone and said he had been "like a trooper through it all".

"He's really a little hero," she told the Associated Press, adding: "He's not coming this way to tennis any more."

Once safely on the ground, Dax said he had told himself not to look down while being rescued.

He said the mood in his car had been upbeat, with passengers telling jokes. "Sometimes you can find great people in New York, " he said.

The Roosevelt Island Tramway, built in 1976, transports commuters and tourists and offers views of New York from heights of up to 250ft.

It travels 3,100 feet at an average speed of 16mph and has served more than 20 million people, according to its official website

Police said the system's main and backup power systems both failed yesterday evening.

A spokeswoman for the New York governor, George Pataki, said there would be a full investigation and review of the incident before the tramway service was allowed to resume.