A Ferris wheel in Osaka Prefecture, western Japan, came to an emergency stop on Tuesday, leaving riders trapped in their gondolas. It took nine hours to rescue everyone.
Passengers were inside nine of the Ferris wheel’s 72 gondolas at EXPOCITY, a large multipurpose complex in Suita City, when the ride stopped around 5:40 p.m.
Facility staff members manually lowered the gondolas one by one to rescue the riders.
Firefighters arrived at the scene over three hours after the ride stopped to find 12 people still stranded. They used a ladder truck to bring down the individuals.
The last person was brought to safety around 2:40 a.m. on Wednesday, about nine hours after the attraction stopped working. Firefighters say no one was injured.
The operator says the Ferris wheel probably stopped due to a system malfunction triggered by a lightning strike. It says it will look into the cause of the stoppage.
The company says the wheel reaches a height of 123 meters at its highest point.
AloJapan.com