A person “very shocked was also taken care of,” he added.
A crisis management unit has been activated, as well as a departmental operational center and a numerous casualty plan (NOVI), for better coordination of relief efforts.
Some 120 people (firefighters, CRS Alpes, PGHM, Smu and slope services), as well as two helicopters and tracked vehicles were involved in the rescue operations. A medical-psychological emergency unit has also been set up in Orelle.
Manual mode
The Albertville public prosecutor’s office was contacted and a team from the investigation and accident office is expected on site Wednesday morning “to analyze the causes of what happened”, added the prefect.
The dumpster “entered the summit station at a fairly high speed,” said Claude Jay, the mayor of Belleville, where Val Thorens is located.
According to Jérôme Grellet, general director of SETAM, the company which operates the cable cars, the station operated in “construction site” or “manual” mode, that is to say less secure than when it is open to the public and is then managed in an automated manner.
The cabin was operated by an “extremely experienced” pilot; “very shocked” by the accident, he was taken care of by the psychological unit, he said.
As for the weather conditions, they were “snowy” but “normal” for the high mountain season, he stressed.
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