More than thirty people were injured in an accident with a chairlift in the Astún ski area in the Spanish Pyrenees on Saturday. Local authorities report this. Seventeen people were said to have been seriously or very seriously injured.
The accident happened around noon, when one of the elevator pulleys broke down. Occupants of the ski lift, which was about fifteen meters high, were thrown violently up and down; dozens of passengers then jumped or fell from the seat cabins, the Spanish newspaper reports El Pais.
Several victims were transported by trauma helicopter to hospitals in the region. Nothing has yet been announced about their nationality.
Astún is located just north of the town of Jaca, close to the border with France, and is especially popular with people from the region. Because it was a sunny day, it was busy on the slopes, according to El País.
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