India, May 26 -- The famous Gulmarg Gondola cable car in Jammu and Kashmir was hit by a technical snag on Monday, stranding more than 300 tourists mid-air for hours in 65 cabins of Asia's highest ropeway, prompting a massive, seven-hour multi-agency rescue operation.

The operation ensured the evacuation of all the people, some of whom were trapped in cabins dangling nearly 500 ft above the ground, news agency PTI reported, quoting officials, who said that rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rain in the area.

Operations for both phases of the cable car service were immediately suspended following the glitch, which occurred around noon.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), th...