Nine people were rescued from a mountain cable car that had jarred loose from its wires on Thursday (14 June) in Albuquerque, New Mexico -- thirty-one people were reported still trapped.

The cable-car sprang lose during a heavy thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon. Forty people were trapped. A crane was brought in to try and lift the car back on the cable, but the boom on the crane was too short. Rescue workers then decided to use a sling to reach the lower passengers. In this manager nine passengers in the lower car were brought down.

But the 31 passengers in the car higher-up the mountain remained trapped. Late on Thursday evening it was reported that an army helicopter was standing-by ready to make another rescue attempt.