18 passengers were left hanging in the air after the Mount Faber line of the Singapore cable car broke down on the night of Jul. 27, Chinese media Shin Min Daily News reported.

No fan or air-conditioner within the cable car

According to one of the passengers whom the Chinese media interviewed, he had been trapped in the cable car for about an hour and 15 minutes with his girlfriend from Taiwan.

The passenger, surnamed Zhang, added that this was the first time they had taken the cable car and that when it suddenly stopped at about 9.15pm, they thought the line had closed and they had been forgotten.

Zhang added that an announcement subsequently clarified the situation, and they eventually spent an hour and 15 minutes trapped within the cable car.

Zhang also claimed that the cable car moved forwards and backwards several times, and that they only returned to the station at 10.30pm.

"We had to keep chatting in order to relieve the tension," he was quoted as saying.

Another passenger who was trapped with his wife added that it was extremely hot within the cable car due to the lack of fans and air-conditioning.

Shin Min Daily News further reported that personnel from the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were also spotted at the scene.

Mount Faber Leisure: Technical problems caused the breakdown

In response to the Chinese media's queries, a spokesperson for Mount Faber Leisure Group said that technical problems had caused a breakdown of the Mount Faber cable car line at 9.14pm.

The line resumed operation at 9.47pm after a technical team addressed the issue.

The spokesperson added that staff had kept in touch with passengers within the cable cars via intercoms, and that all 18 passengers in the cable cars at the time of the breakdown were eventually able to get off safely, with the last passenger leaving at 10.55pm.

Top photo by Shin Min Daily News