At least 30 people have been injured in a ski lift accident at the Spanish resort of Astún, around the Pyrenees mountain range, emergency services in Spain said on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENTRegional emergency services said that 10 of the injured needed to be treated in hospitals, including two who were seriously injured.
Local media reported that around 80 people had been trapped on the chairlifts in the immediate aftermath.
“It’s like a cable has come off, the chairs have bounced, and people have been thrown off,” one witness told state media, TVE.
According to regional emergency services, several helicopters were deployed to the area to rescue those trapped and transfer the injured to nearby hospitals.
At least 10 people needed to be treated in hospitals, including two who were seriously injured, local officials said.
Fernando Beltrán, a representative of Spain’s northern Aragon regional government, said later on X that “all the skiers affected by the accident” had been evacuated.
The emergency authorities, however, said several hospitals in the region, including Jaca, Huesca, Miguel Servet, Clínico Universitario, Royo Villanova, and Barbastro, were continuing to receive and treat the injured.
Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the accident. He expressed his support to the injured and their families in a post on X.
Authorities in Aragon, where the accident occurred, said the ski resort has been completely evacuated and closed.
The cause of the accident remains unknown; however, some eyewitnesses blamed a loose piece that would normally have ensured the return of the chairlift for causing part of the structure to fall.
Video editor • Jerry Fisayo-Bambi
