Nineteen people, including six children, were rescued from a fairground ride on the South Bank that became stuck 20m (65ft) above ground.
Firefighters spent more than three hours retrieving adults and children from the ride in central London and worked late into Sunday evening rescuing those still stuck.
The ride, with hanging capsules that swing around a central pillar, is a popular attraction at the riverside fairground.
Oh god people are stuck on a ride in southbank 😖 pic.twitter.com/YU7h1othvb
— Diksha Chadha (@DikshaChadha) July 31, 2016
Slow but steady progress being made at #SouthBank fairground. Only 5 more pods to be reach. https://t.co/ULmZ2sl8nf pic.twitter.com/ijYExAJBhU
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 31, 2016
Crews are rescuing people stuck on a fairground rid at #SouthBank. More information here https://t.co/2vGpnbGBEH pic.twitter.com/3YYganePjW
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 31, 2016
London Fire Brigade (LFB) used two aerial platforms to bring people down from the 10 stuck capsules. Crews also worked with an engineer to manually release the ride’s friction brake so that it could be turned to align with the aerial ladder.
Clive Robinson, LFB’s station manager, said people waited patiently to be rescued. “It’s slow work as we need to access each cage individually and ensure they are secure before we move them from the ride on to our platform and bring them back down to the ground. There are no injuries and everyone is patiently waiting for us to get around to them.”
A spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “We are aware of the incident and we are making inquiries.”
Officers from the Metropolitan police placed a cordon around the ride to ensure the fire brigade could carry out their work away from crowds.
The cause of the incident remains unknown.