A cable car carrying a family of four has plummeted to the ground at a ski resort in western Austria, leaving all of those onboard with serious injuries.
A tree reportedly fell on the cable of the Acherkogelbahn in the Hochoetz skiing area of the Tyrol region at around 10.20am, causing the gondola to fall 23ft to the ground.
All four passengers, which included two children, were badly injured, with one rushed to hospital in critical condition.
Due to the remote location and inaccessible forest terrain, emergency services were forced to extract the victims using a rope dangled from a helicopter.
Michaela Burger, a cable car spokesperson, said that one passenger was taken to Innsbruck Medical University Hospital while the three others were taken to Zams hospital for further treatment.
“Experts have to clarify how this could have happened,” she told Austrian outlet Kurier.
The facility was temporarily closed and people who were in other cable cars were already at the upper or lower terminals, the operator said.
All of the other 60 cable cars in circulation along the route were brought safely to a halt with no other injuries reported.
Speaking to the MailOnline, Jacqueline Jones, who was in a separate cable car at the time of the incident, said: “Luckily our son wanted to come earlier today to practise before his ski school started otherwise we would have been on the gondola at that exact time. The lift is completely closed now.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed for those involved. As a small resort, you see the same faces every day.”
