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After an accident on a cable car in the Italian municipality of Macugnaga, almost 100 people had to be brought to safety from a high-altitude ski resort. As the mountain rescue service announced on the online platform Xa cable car car crashed into the barrier of the mountain station at high speed around 11:30 a.m. Three passengers and a cable car employee suffered minor injuries in the incident at the Swiss border. As Italian radio Rai reported, a child was among the injured passengers.
The injured were according to the Fire department immediately brought down to the valley by helicopter from the station at around 2,800 meters above sea level on the Monte Moro mountain. However, for almost 100 skiers and hikers who were in the ski area at the time of the accident, an hour-long wait began: after the cable car had to be taken out of service, they were stuck on the mountain.
Only after a lengthy operation could they be gradually flown to safety in helicopters. The fire department finally announced around 3:30 p.mthat all people had been brought to the valley.
Technical problems were probably the cause of the accident
The exact cause of this morning’s accident is being investigated in more detail by the authorities. Like eyewitnesses from the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the cabin was getting faster and faster shortly before the accident. “Then we hit the concrete and fell on top of each other,” the newspaper quoted a passenger as saying. “It was a few seconds in which we didn’t understand what exactly happened.”
Filippo Besozzi, the head of cable car operator Macugnaga Trasporti e Servizi, said Corriere della Serathe accident was caused by a technical problem. As a result, the cabin did not brake sufficiently when entering the station and crashed into the barrier. According to him, the cable car remained largely undamaged, but will undergo safety tests after the incident.
The railway was built in 1962 and was extensively modernized at the beginning of 2023. As part of the renovation, engines, rollers and cabins were replaced, among other things. According to the authorities, the costs amounted to around two million euros.
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