173 people trapped for six hours on wheel in Singapore

Fire broke out in the control room of the world’s tallest observation wheel today, trapping 173 people hundreds of feet above the ground for hours and forcing rescuers to lower 10 passengers to safety by rope.

Two passengers were taken to hospital with minor ailments.

During the six hour ordeal, passengers were able to talk with officials via intercom and rescuers tethered to harnesses took them sandwiches and soft drinks, said general manager Steven Yeo.

“It took a while,” Yeo said. “Some of them were a bit disturbed.”

The 165-metre (541ft) Flyer, which has carried two million passengers so far, is about 100ft (30 metres) taller than the London Eye, formerly the world’s tallest observation wheel. It was built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Technicians were able to get the wheel moving again a little more than six hours after it ground to a halt and most of the passengers exited normally, Yeo said.

The wheel, known as the Singapore Flyer, has stalled twice before for about an hour each time since it began operating in February.