At least 30 people are reported to have been injured, 17 of them seriously, after a ski lift collapsed in northern Spain.
The resort of Astún in the Spanish Pyrenees, where the incident took place, has been closed and rescuers are at the scene.
Photos and videos circulating on social media appear to show dozens of people lying on the snow under the ski lift.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “shocked” by news of the incident.
Ambulances and helicopters were transporting the injured to nearby hospitals.
One of the Spanish broadcasters reports that a number of people are still hanging from a chair 15 meters high waiting to be rescued.
An eyewitness told the media that it looks like the rope came down, the chairs bounced and people were thrown up.
“We are talking about 30 to 35 injured people, including serious, serious and minor injuries,” Miguel Ángel Clavero, emergency director of the region of Aragon, where the incident took place, told public TVE, according to AFP.
“It seems that the pulley for returning one of the seat holders has failed and this has led to the cable losing power, causing some seats to fall and others to be left hanging,” he said.
Pictures on social media show that one of the chairlifts is talking.
The cause of the cable failure is currently unknown.
An eyewitness, Jamie Pelegri, said on social media that the chairman of Canal Roya was the one who fell.
“Fortunately we are alive but there are some injured, we have seen a few structures go down,” said Spotify’s commercial director.
Video posted by Spain’s Guardia Civil shows a helicopter flying over the scene before landing to allow emergency workers to land.
Regional president Jorge Azcón and Spanish Interior Minister Roberto Bermúdez de Castro are on their way to the ski resort to understand the extent of the danger.
Azcón wrote in X: “All the necessary services of [government] they are working to help affected and injured people.”
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he spoke to Azcón “to give him the government’s “full support”.
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