Around 20 people have been injured after a ski lift collapsed in a resort on the Pyrenees mountain range.
Skiers plummetted to the ground when a cable broke on a chair lift at the Astún ski resort on the Spanish border.
The President of Aragon, Jorge Azcón confirmed that there were no fatalities and that the number of injured who had to be treated by the health services was no more than 17.
Three people were helicoptered to hospital due to the severity of their injuries.
“The three have been transferred by helicopter to different hospitals, but they are all conscious, although seriously injured,” said the president, who hailed the “excellent” work of the emergency services in preventing further tragedy.
The most seriously injured is an 18-year-old woman who has been scrambled to the Miguel Servet Hospital by helicopter. Another woman, also seriously injured, has been taken by helicopter to Zaragoza.
Social media video appeared to show a number of people lying on the snow beneath the ski lift.
Other images show rescuers climbing ladders to help skiers left dangling on the chair lift.
Director General of Emergencies, Miguel Ángel Clavero claimed a failure in the return pulley system of one of the chairlifts has caused the cable to break.
A witness told the Spanish broadcaster: “It’s like a cable has come off, the chairs have bounced and people have been thrown off.”
An eyewitness, Jamie Pelegri, said on social media that it was the Canal Roya chairlift was the one that had collapsed.
“Luckily we are fine but there are injured people, we have seen several stretchers coming down,” the Spotify commercial director said.
The former president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, said he was “dismayed” by the chairlift accident posting in X, “now we can only support the injured and their families and wish them a speedy recovery.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he was “shocked” by the news of the accident, expressing his closeness to the injured and their families.
