21 Rescued After Being Stranded For Hours On Tramway

All 21 of the people stranded for hours on a tramway at Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, New Mexico were rescued safely on Saturday (January 1), according to local authorities.

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office confirmed its Air Support team had picked up "the final remaining passenger and our mission is complete" at around 4:15 p.m. local time.

"What an incredible effort by all involved! Happy New Year, everyone is safe and we are grateful for the positive outcome," the department wrote in a post updating the situation on its verified Facebook account.

The department said the passengers had been stuck on the tramway since around 2:00 a.m. local time.

BCSO's metro air support team was at the scene evacuating the stranded passengers in groups of two to four while facing difficult weather conditions of high winds and low visibility.

Local authorities told KOB 4 that employees at the restaurant Ten3, which is located at the top of the tramway, were traveling back down overnight, but were trapped after ice accumulated and stopped the transportation device.

A spokesperson for Sandia Peak told KOB 4 that ice accumulated unusually quickly on one of the cables holding the tramway during the incident, which caused the cable to droop below the device.

Sandia Peak closed the tram -- which is among Albuquerque's most popular tourist attractions -- and Ten3 due to weather conditions on Saturday and said it will remain closed on Sunday in a post shared on its Facebook account.