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Two 18-year-old women are in intensive care after a ski lift collapsed in Spain, according to local reports.
The incident left at least 30 people injured at the resort of Astún, in the Pyrenees mountain range, emergency services for Spain’s northern Aragon region said.
Regional emergency services said that 10 people needed to be treated in hospitals, including two who were seriously injured.
Regional media outlet el Diario has since reported that two 18-year-old women are being monitored in intensive care units, citing the regional government.
State TV channel TVE reported that around 80 people were trapped on the chairlifts in the immediate aftermath.
“It’s like a cable has come off, the chairs have bounced and people have been thrown off,” one witness told TVE.
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 cause of the incident is unknown.
Several helicopters were sent to the area to rescue those trapped and transfer the injured to nearby hospitals.
Social media images and video appeared to show a number of people lying on the snow beneath the ski lift.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the accident, expressing his closeness to the injured and their families.
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.
In a statement on Saturday, the resort said: “The causes of the accident are unknown which are currently being investigated.
“The facility comes with all permits and inspections. The protocols for rescue and transfer of wounded have worked properly, evacuating all the uphill users within two and a half hours.”
