The collapse of the ski lift injured at least 30 people

At least 30 people were injured, 17 of them seriously, after a ski lift collapsed in northern Spain.

The Aston resort in the Spanish Pyrenees, where the accident occurred, has been closed, and rescue services are at the scene.

Pictures and videos circulating on social media show a number of people lying on the snow at the bottom of the ski lift.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the incident.

Ambulances and helicopters transport the injured to nearby hospitals.

A Spanish public radio station reported that dozens of people were still hanging on the 15-metre-high elevator awaiting rescue.

A witness told local media that it appeared as if a cable had been cut, chairs were bouncing and people were being thrown from the elevator.

“We are talking about between 30 and 35 people injured, including serious, very serious and less serious injuries,” Miguel Angel Clavero, emergency director for the Aragon region, where the accident occurred, told public television TVE, according to Agence France-Presse.

He said, “Apparently, there was a malfunction in the return pulley of one of the elevators, which led to the cable losing tension, which led to some chairs falling and others remaining suspended.”

Photos posted on social media allegedly show one of the elevator’s flywheels off its axis.

The cause of the cable failure is currently unknown.

An eyewitness, Jimmy Pellegri, said on social media that it was the Roya Canal elevator that collapsed.

Spotify’s commercial director said: “Fortunately, we are fine but there are injured people, and we saw several stretchers coming down.”

A video posted by the Spanish Civil Guard shows a helicopter flying near the scene before landing to allow emergency workers to disembark.

Regional President Jorge Azcun and Spanish Interior Minister Roberto Bermudez de Castro are on their way to the ski resort to understand the extent of the incident.

“All the necessary services for,” Azcón wrote on X [government] They work to help those affected and injured.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he spoke with Azcon to offer him the government’s “full support.”