In a tragic incident, at least 30 people were injured in a ski lift accident at the Spanish Astún ski resort in the Pyrenees mountain range, media reports said on Saturday.
Nine of the wounded are reportedly in a very serious condition, while another eight are moderately injured.
The accident at the Astun ski resort in the Pyrenees occurred around midday.
Around 80 people still remained trapped on the chairlift, according to State TV channel TVE report.
“It’s like a cable has come off, the chairs have bounced and people have been thrown off,” one witness told TVE.
Emergency services are working in the area to rescue those trapped.
The ski resort said on X that it was “working with emergency services” and that its management expressed “consternation and support for those affected” by the incident.
The cause of the accident is not known yet.
"Apparently, there was a failure in the return pulley of one of the chairlifts and this caused the cable to lose tension, causing some chairs to fall and others to remain hanging," said Miguel Angel Clavero, emergencies director for the Aragon region.
Aragon's top official Jorge Azcon said one woman had been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the accident and expressing his closeness to the injured and their families.
Fernando Beltrán, a representative of Spain’s government in Aragon, later posted on X that “all the skiers affected by the accident” have been evacuated and those who were injured were receiving medical treatment.
The Astun ski resort, mainly popular among Spanish skiers, is close to the Spanish border with France, in the Pyrenees mountain range.
"Suddenly we heard a sound and we fell straight to the ground, inside the chair," Maria Moreno told public television TVE.
"We bounced up and down about five times and our backs were quite sore or we were hurt, but there were people who fell out of the chairs."
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.