--- title: Dozens Rescued from Cable Car Crash Above River in Germany description: Dozens of people had to be rescued from cable cars left dangling 40 meters above the Rhine river in Germany after one of the wheels came off canonical: https://time.com/4880287/cable-car-rescue-cologne-germany/ author: Rachel Lewis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-31T12:00:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:25.740Z og:title: Dozens of People Rescued From Cable Cars Dangling Over River og:description: 65 passengers had to be saved og:url: https://time.com/4880287/cable-car-rescue-cologne-germany/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4adf76b5dab992a2/6988d7ba86f68e84e96e5ca8/cologne-cable-car-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5132 og:image:height: 2887 og:image:alt: GERMANY-CABLE-CAR-COLOGNE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Dozens of People Rescued From Cable Cars Dangling Over River twitter:description: 65 passengers had to be saved twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4adf76b5dab992a2/6988d7ba86f68e84e96e5ca8/cologne-cable-car-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Dozens Saved in Dramatic Rescue Effort As Cable Cars Dangle Over River > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Rachel Lewis](https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Jul 31, 2017 12:00 PM UTC  A father and his child are abseiled from a gondola over the Rhine in Cologne, on July 30, 2017. A father and his child are abseiled from a gondola over the Rhine in Cologne, on July 30, 2017. Marcel Kusch - AFP / Getty Images by [Rachel Lewis](https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Jul 31, 2017 12:00 PM UTC Dozens of people had to be rescued from cable cars left dangling 40 meters above the river Rhine in Cologne, [Germany,](http://time.com/4878162/hamburg-germany-knife-supermarket-attack/) after one of the wheels came off a guiding line and the cars crashed into a supporting post. 65 passengers had to be brought down from more than 30 cable cars that were in operation at the time, [CNN reported](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/31/europe/cologne-cable-car-accident/index.html?sr=twCNN073117cologne-cable-car-accident1115AMStory). “Emergency services were sent to the scene and soon after arriving were able to ascertain that one of the cable cars on the left side Rhine pylon had come off the cable with its front wheels,” Christian Heinrich, Cologne’s Fire Department Spokesman, told CNN. German media reported that the emergency services practised for a rescue operation just one week ago, according to [_the Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/30/passengers-rescued-after-cable-car-gondola-crashes-in-cologne), which also reported that a pregnant woman and a man were slightly injured in the rescue mission. Dramatic photographs taken at the scene show rescued families dangling from ropes while rescue teams work in the carriages above them.  father and his child are abseiled from a gondola over the Rhine in Cologne. Rainer Jensen - AFP / Getty Images. A  A father and his child are abseiled from a gondola over the Rhine in Cologne, western Germany, on July 30, 2017\. Martin Oversohl -AFP / Getty Images Martin Oversohl -AFP / Getty Images  A gondola of the Cologne cable car, which crosses the Rhine, wedged itself on a ropeway support over the Rhine in Cologne. Marcel Kusch—AFP / Getty Images. Cologne’s mayor, Henriette Reker, [tweeted to say](https://twitter.com/HenrietteReker): “I thank our fire service and the many emergency service workers from around the region. 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