A chairlift accident that occurred this Saturday in the Spanish ski resort of Astún (autonomous community of Aragon), on the border with France, left 30 injured, four of them seriously, local authorities said. Initially, rescuers reported “30 to 35 injured”.
Miguel Ángel Clavero, director of emergency services in Aragon, explained on public television that this accident was due to “a problem with the pulley of one of the chairlifts”. “This resulted in a loss of cable tension and some chairlifts falling while others remained suspended,” he added.
A woman airlifted
Among the injured, a woman had to be evacuated by helicopter to hospital, specifies El País. In total, five helicopters were deployed to assist the victims. The firefighters also went to the site, explains Cadena Ser.
Ten victims had to be treated in hospitals, four of whom were in serious condition. The other twenty were treated at the station by emergency services.
-Arriving on site, the president of the Aragon region where the Astún station is located, Jorge Azcón, indicated that the most seriously injured victim, a woman, had to be transferred to a nearby hospital by helicopter. All the skiers who were left hanging in their chairlift were rescued, he added.
Five helicopters and around fifteen ambulances were mobilized while a field hospital was set up in the station.
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