Lift Drops Skiers, Leaves Others Dangling in Air

A ski lift collapsed at a resort in northern Spain on Saturday, throwing people to the ground and leaving others hanging in the air. At least 30 people are reported to have been hurt at the Astún resort in the Spanish Pyrenees, the BBC reports, 17 of whom required medical attention. The emergency services director for the region said some of the injuries were serious. "Suddenly we heard a sound and we fell straight to the ground, inside the chair," one of the survivors said, per the Guardian. "We bounced up and down about five times and our backs were quite sore or we were hurt, but there were people who fell out of the chairs."

"Apparently, there was a failure in the return pulley of one of the chairlifts and this caused the cable to lose tension, causing some chairs to fall and others to remain hanging," said the emergency official, Miguel Ángel Clavero. "It was very scary, but very fast," said a person who was on the lift. Rescuers worked with employees to get those stranded on the lift down safely. Five helicopters, 14 ambulances, and a mobile medical center arrived at the resort, the first within about 15 minutes of the accident. (More Spain stories.)