Ski lift collapse injures 10 at Spain’s Astún resort

# Ski lift collapse injures 10 at Spain’s Astún resort

Ten people were taken to hospital after a chairlift failed at the Astún ski resort in the Spanish Pyrenees, with two young women remaining in intensive care after the collapse.

The incident took place on Saturday and forced the resort to close briefly while rescue services worked at the scene. Officials later said the resort had reopened, but the questions over what caused the failure remained under investigation.

According to state media reports cited by the BBC, a pulley failure appears to have caused the cable to slacken, which in turn made several chairs drop to the ground and threw skiers into the snow. Another account said a pulley at one end of the chairlift came loose and part of the support structure collapsed, causing the cable to lose tension.

Emergency services triaged those involved at the site. They said 10 people were taken to hospital and 20 others were discharged on the spot. The two worst-affected patients, both 18, were airlifted by helicopter to Zaragoza. One was said to be stable, while the other remained under observation but was improving.

The collapse left some people dangling on a lift that was about 15 metres above the ground until they were helped down. A skier on the chairlift, Jaime Pelegri, said the cable lost tension before the chairs on his side fell. He described the event as very fast and very frightening, and said ambulances and helicopters arrived within about 15 minutes.

Images shared on social media appeared to show one of the lift’s flywheels off its upright support. Regional and national officials went to the scene, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was shocked by the incident. He later said he had spoken with regional president Jorge Azcón to offer the full support of the government.

The resort said it had all the permits and inspections required, a statement that will likely matter as investigators examine maintenance, machinery and the exact sequence of failure.

Astún is a popular resort in Aragón near the French border, and the accident immediately raised concern about chairlift safety as winter tourism was under way. For now, the basic facts are clear: a mechanical failure at a busy ski resort injured 10 people, forced a fast emergency response and sent two young women into intensive care.

The deeper explanation will depend on the investigation, but the images from Astún already showed how quickly a routine ride uphill can turn into an emergency when a lift system loses tension and collapses.