Thirty tourists were plunged into panic when a mountain cable car detached and was left swaying in the howling wind for four hours.
The gondola reportedly encountered a technical fault after a bolt of lightning blew an electrical fuse.
The cable car dangled in the air as the tourists prayed for their lives and made their ‘final phone calls’.
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They were on board the Freccia nel Cielo cable car in the Tofane mountain range in northern Italy.
Around 20 passengers were foreign tourists.
The cable car was preparing to depart from a station situated at an altitude of 10,643 ft (3,244 m), when it unexpectedly detached at around 4pm on 24 July.
The emergency brake kicked in, but the cabin was left swaying in the wind
One passenger, from Rome, said: “We all started to think about death.
“Some people were making video calls to their relatives, some were crying, my daughter was shaking.”
“The cable car then started up and we freefell into the void again.
“This happened three times, even the helpful operator didn’t know what to say anymore.
“He tried to keep control, but it wasn’t easy for him.
“He was very good, though.”
But facility manager, Roberto Rimoldi said: “They couldn’t have hit the rocks or the station, the system is specifically designed to prevent this from happening.
“The impact felt by the passengers was probably caused by the shock absorbers.”
Rimoldi explained: “There was a lot of electricity in the air and the cable car had several sudden stops during the departure phase.
“When it left, the electrical storm blew a fuse and the gondola stopped.”
He added: “I understand the passengers’ fears, but in reality, their lives were never in danger.”
Rimoldi said they had to slowly winch the cable car back to the station.
The tourists’ feet eventually hit terra firma at around 8pm, as reported by Need To Know.
They were offered dinner as compensation for the scary misadventure.
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