One person was killed on Wednesday when a cable car cabin plunged down a snowy slope in the Swiss mountains.
The gondola, certified to carry eight people, was carrying only a 61-year-old woman who died in the accident at the Engelberg ski resort in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, authorities said.
At approximately 2,000 meters high in the Alps, the altitude made it difficult for rescue workers to reach the scene and a helicopter was deployed.
‘Unclear’ cause of accident, police say
The cause of the crash is under investigation, police said.
“The circumstances that led to the accident are still unclear at this time,” a police spokesperson said in the early evening.
The gondola apparently broke loose from its cable in strong winds, crashed, slid down the mountain and rolled over several times before halting against a bush, according to reporting by the DPA news agency.
The moment was filmed by an onlooker who provided the video footage to the Swiss newspaper Blick.
A 61-year-old woman from the area died in the accident, police said.
Between 100 and 200 people were travelling in other gondolas on the cable car route around the time authorities were alerted to the accident.
Norbert Patt, CEO of the cable car company Titlis Bergbahnen, said passengers were evacuated by the afternoon.
Concern around ‘strong winds’ warning
By then, the affected gondola and numerous others were closed, with some due to “strong winds,” according to the ski resort’s website.
The weather service MeteoSchweiz reported sunny conditions for Engelberg with temperatures around 8 degrees Celsius at noon. There was also a wind warning in place with “wind gusts in exposed locations above 1,800 meters” of up to 130 kilometres per hour.
Edited by: Sean Sinico