Updated

Two people have died and a third has been injured in a climbing accident on Table Mountain, a major tourist destination in the South African city of Cape Town.

Local media report that two bodies were recovered Tuesday morning after emergency responders abseiled from a cable car to rescue the survivor late Monday.

After the rescue operation, hundreds of tourists who were stranded for hours on top of the mountain were ferried to the bottom in cable cars.

The African News Agency says the three climbers were using ropes when they fell and two died when they hit the ground. The agency quotes Merle Collins, a spokeswoman for South Africa's national parks service, as saying they had been abseiling down the mountain.