A stone's throw from the border with France, a serious chairlift accident took place in the ski resort of Astùn in the Spanish Pyrenees. There are around thirty serious and very serious injuries according to the authorities.
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An accident occurred on a ski lift at the Astún ski resort in the Huesca Pyrenees between the Pourtalet and Somport passes. There would be between thirty and thirty-five injured. Nine of them are judged in very serious condition and eight others in serious condition according to the first assessment of the government of Aragon.
-An investigation will have to determine the exact causes of the accident. But according to the first elements and testimonies, it seems that a chairlift came out of the mechanism. In its fall, it would have blown up the cable and therefore the other chairlifts. A young man who witnessed the incident said on the Spanish television channel TVE that he had seen a cable from the chairlift mechanism jump. “Suddenly the chairlifts started bouncing and people were flying”he described.
All injured skiers were rescued. Five helicopters and around fifteen ambulances were mobilized to evacuate the injured to nearby hospitals. A field hospital has been set up, according to emergency services.
Authorities have activated an emergency protocol to ensure safety and medical care in the area. A telephone number for relatives has also been made available: 976715980
Also read the Franceinfo article: A chairlift accident in Spain leaves around thirty people injured, several of them seriously, at the French border.
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