Sunday, July 22, 2007

On Saturday at 8:45 p.m. (CST), a power outage due to equipment failure at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri trapped 40 people in the two arch trams and 100 people in the observation center at the top of the Arch.

It took about two hours to evacuate the south tram after one of the nine cables supporting the tram car possibly snapped because of a power failure. The north side tram and people in the observation center had to walk down approximately 300 feet of steps to a freight elevator to be taken to the bottom of the Arch. They were met by anxious families who had been waiting for hours outside the Arch. Two people needed treatment for minor injuries.

The Gateway Arch will be back open Sunday with only the north tram operating. The National Park Service opened the Gateway Arch in 1966 and is one of the region’s most popular attractions.