Austrian Window Cleaners Trapped Up Viennas Tallest Building

The window cleaners were left stranded when the platform they were working on slipped nearly 90 degrees. They were working on DC Tower 1 in Vienna, Austria - the country's tallest skyscraper.

Window cleaners dangle on side of 250m building: These terrifying images show the moments after a window-cleaning cradle on Austria's tallest building suddenly slipped, leaving two workers clinging on for their lives. Their precarious position could be seen for miles around, as one side of the platform fell to leave it at a near-45-degree angle. The two men had been cleaning windows on the 48th floor of the Donau City Tower in Vienna, and ended up dangling at more than 470ft (144m). The incident was unsurprisingly witnessed by a number of people passing by down below, and according to local news reports around 30 firefighters responded on the scene.

Left hanging: A close-up view of the platform appears to show one of the workers, dressed in a bright jacket, clinging on to the raised side It is not known how long the pair were left stranded before being rescued.

Though their work was hampered by strong winds, fire crews were able to lower extra cables to ensure the cradle did not drop any further, and the men were eventually let in through a ventilation shaft. Precisely how long the men were left trapped in the cradle remains unclear, and though they escaped unharmed one was treated for shock. The 60-floor, 820-ft (250-m) building they were working on was completed last year overlooking the Danube in one of the city's main urban business hubs. It is officially called DC Tower 1 - with construction now underway on DC Tower 2 on a site nearby. 

The glass-fronted DC Tower is 820 feet high and was only completed last year. The skyscraper has a distinctive design and has windows on one side designed to look like a wave. A second DC Tower is under construction.