Two teenagers in intensive care after Spain ski lift collapse, local media reports

19 January 2025, 08:58 | Updated: 19 January 2025, 10:24

Two 18-year-old women are in intensive care after a ski lift collapsed in Spain, according to local media.

The incident on Saturday took place on a chair lift at the Astún ski resort, which is on the Spanish border with France, in the Pyrenees mountain range.

The regional government said at least 30 people were injured, nine of them very seriously - though the ski resort later said around 15 people were injured and three were seriously injured.

Regional media outlet el Diario has since reported that two 18-year-old women are being monitored in intensive care units, citing the regional government.

In a statement on Saturday, the resort said: "The causes of the accident are unknown which are currently being investigated.

"The facility comes with all permits and inspections. The protocols for rescue and transfer of wounded have worked properly, evacuating all the uphill users within two and a half hours."

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The ski resort said it would be open on Sunday "at its usual hours".

'A very scary moment'

Jaime Pelegri, who was on the chair lift when it collapsed, told Sky News it was "a very scary moment" and that the incident took place "in a matter of seconds".

"We were still going up, it looked like the cable lost tensity," he said. "So at the same time, all of the chairs in the lift started to fall, and we actually were a part of that."

He said as he and his wife had just got on the lift, they were uninjured and "the chairs surrounding us were falling back".

But higher up the lift, "it's where... more dangerous things happened, and there were injured people".

Mr Pelegri said some skiers looked as though they had fallen "probably 10 to over 15m... to the snow".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was "shocked by the news of the accident".

"All our affection to the injured and their families," he said.

(c) Sky News 2025: Two teenagers in intensive care after Spain ski lift collapse, local media reports