Two teenage skiers remained in intensive care yesterday after part of a ski lift they were riding on collapsed. Dozens of skiers were initially thought to have been injured in Saturday's incident at Spain's Astún Ski Resort, however that number has since been downgraded to 10. According to Miguel Angel Clavero, Director General of Emergencies of the Government of Aragon, the accident on the Canal Roya was caused when a pulley failure caused a cable to break at around 11:30 a.
m. A subsequent jolt caused the chairlifts to start bouncing around, turning several upside down, and an unknown number of skiers fell to the ground from the chairlift which is up to 50 feet high in parts. Skier Jaime Pelegri was on the lift when the accident occurred and tells the BBC "it was very scary," but rescuers arrived on the scene very quickly.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that there were 80 skiers riding the lift at the time of the accident, and five were transported to hospital including the two 18-year-old females who were seriously injured. It reports that one of the injured skiers is now in stable condition and the other is "making good progress." A further 20 people were treated at the scene by members of and the Guardia Civil, which shared the following video of the rescue.
A from the Pyreneen resort reads: "The causes of the accident are unknown and are currently being investigated. The facility has all the permits and inspections. The protocols for rescue and transfer of injured .
