The cable cars were meandering peacefully up the mountain according to ABC News, ferrying tourists when the cables that connect them got tangled, causing the cars to stop at an elevation of 3,000 meters or close to 1.6 miles.

Those rescued are being taken to Italian soil, said Roberto Francesconi, of the Skyway Italian Mont Blanc cable vehicle, before being bussed back to the French side.

The 5-km (3-mile) ride between the Aiguille du Midi peak and the Helbronner summit, at the border between France and Italy, is at an altitude of over 3,000 metres (9,840 feet). Food, drink and blankets had been delivered to them.

A spokesman for the local gendarmerie police said: 'We will evacuate passengers by air, with police helicopters but also private ones called in by local authorities'. The rescue mission will resume early Friday morning and hopefully, it will be just fine.

He said the helicopters rescued 65 people before the operation was suspended for the night because of rough flight conditions.

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Mr Duterte added he did not believe the "rude" subject of extrajudicial killings should be raised at such a summit. He called Pope Francis a "son of a whore" in May, and called US Ambassador Philip Goldberg a "gay son of a whore".

"We are in contact with the clients [in the cable cars]".

Chamonix mayor, Eric Fournier, said "there's nothing fundamentally to fear".

Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest mountain.

The terraces of Aiguille du Midi, which is nearly 12,400 feet high, offer a 360-degree view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps.

The cable vehicle journey normally takes 30-35 minutes.