Dozens of people have been injured after a chairlift derailed at a ski resort in Spain.
Thirty people were reportedly injured in this morning’s incident at the Astún ski resort in the heart of the Aragon Valley in northeastern Spain.
Seventeen of the victims are said to be seriously injured and others are still “clinging to the cable.”
Four helicopters have been mobilized to help in the transfer operation to the hospital.
Several chairlifts at the resort reportedly fell to the ground and around 80 people are believed to remain trapped.
One of the survivors, who identified himself as Óscar, told a Spanish television network today: “It seems that a pulley broke or came loose and the cable began to jump and every time it happened we went up and down.”
“We were lucky we didn’t fall to the ground, but there were people in front of us who did fall to the ground and were hit in the face and other parts of the body.”
A skier who witnessed the drama said: “Thank God we didn’t fall but others did and there are many people injured.”
Another witness said people were thrown into the air as the chairlifts went up and down.
‘We are in a chair… thank God we have not fallen. But when they arrived they did fall and there are people injured,’ wrote a witness on Twitter/X
Miguel Ángel Clavero, head of Emergencies of the Government of Aragon, shortly after 2:15 p.m. local time, stated: “There has been a return failure in one of the chairlifts and this has caused a loss of tension and the fall of the chairlifts. chairlifts.
“Three people have been evacuated, two of them by helicopter, including a woman who needs emergency surgery.”
A spokesperson for the regional government’s emergency coordination center confirmed around midday: “A chairlift accident has occurred in the Astún ski resort with multiple victims.”
A special telephone number has been created for the victims’ families.
Initially it was reported that the Jaca hospital was the only one that had been put on alert, but other hospitals in the region have also been informed that victims are on the way.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez tweeted: “Shocked by the news of the accident at the Astún ski resort.
“I have spoken with the president of Aragón, Jorge Azcón, to offer him all the support of the Government.”

Hospitals in the region have been informed that victims are on the way.
Jorge Azcón, president of the Aragon region where the ski resort is located, went to the place.
The regional government of Aragon states that the total number of victims is unknown because evacuations are still being carried out, but at the moment it is aware of “eight people seriously injured and nine very seriously injured.”