Ski lift collapse injures at least 30 people at Pyrenees resort

At least 30 people are believed to have been injured after a ski lift collapsed in northern Spain.

The Astún resort in the Spanish Pyrenees, where the incident occurred, was closed while rescuers were on the scene.

Photos and videos circulating on social media showed several people lying on the snow below the ski lift.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the incident.

Ambulances and helicopters took the injured to a nearby hospital.

According to a regional official, dozens of people hanging from a 15-meter high chair were rescued. was quoted in local media.

A witness told state broadcaster TVE that it appeared cables snapped, chairs bounced and people were thrown out of the elevator.

A witness who was in the lift told the BBC he saw a cable “lose tension” before the chairs on his side fell.

“It was very scary but very fast,” Jamie Pelegri said, adding that an ambulance and helicopter arrived on the scene within about 15 minutes.

Earlier in a social media post, he said it was the resort’s Canal Roya chairlift that collapsed.

“Fortunately, we are okay, but there were people injured, we saw many stretchers fall,” Spotify’s commercial director said on X.

“We are talking about about 30 to 35 people injured, including serious, very serious and less serious”.

“Apparently, the return pulley of one of the chairlifts failed and this caused the cables to lose tension, causing some chairs to fall and others to remain suspended,” he said.

Images on social media show one of the forklift’s flywheels being misaligned.

The cause of the incident is still unknown.

Regional President Jorge Azcón and Spanish Interior Minister Roberto Bermúdez de Castro visited the ski resort to find out the extent of the accident.

Azcon wrote on X: “All the necessary services of [government] are working to assist those affected and injured.”

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he had spoken to Azcón “to offer the government “full support” for him.

A phone line has been set up for families of those affected.

The Astún resort, popular with Spanish skiers, is located in the Aragon region of the Pyrenees, near the border with France.