Dozens stranded over Thames as cable car breaks down

LONDON (Reuters) - Dozens of travellers were left stranded high above the River Thames after London's newly unveiled cable car broke down in sweltering heat on Wednesday.

The 45 million pound system that links two Olympic venues ground to a halt for over 30 minutes.

Danny Price, head of operator Emirates Air Line, said: "The Emirates Air Line is now back up and running after experiencing a technical fault at 11:45 a.m."

"All passengers were safely back in the terminal by 12:18 p.m. and water and first aid were made available to them. We would like to apologise to anyone affected."

The cable car, which connects the O2 Arena in Greenwich with the ExCel exhibition centre at the Royal Docks in east London, was launched to great fanfare by London mayor Boris Johnson last month.

Some passengers took to social media site Twitter to vent their frustration.

One, Alastair Owens, posted a photo of the stationary cable cars and tweeted: "London Emirates cable car has broken down and we're dangling mid air over the docks -- seem to be evacuating...

"Can see cable cars closest to ground have been evacuated, but we in mid air are being told nothing."

(Reporting By Sophie Kirby; editing by Ken Ferris)