A woman was killed when a ski gondola crashed down a snowy mountain at Engelberg ski resort in the Swiss Alps, local officials report.
Police in the central Swiss canton of Nidwalden stated the gondola detached from the cable for reasons that are still unclear at about 11:00 AM local time on Wednesday.
Eyewitnesses informed Swiss media that strong winds were buffeting the mountainside when the crash occurred.
Dramatic video footage has surfaced showing the gondola tumbling down Mt Titlis and flipping over several times before finally coming to a halt.
Authorities later confirmed that the victim was a 61-year-old woman from the region. The cause of the crash is presently being investigated.
Nidwalden canton police noted the woman was alone in the Titlis Xpress ski gondola when it detached from the cable. The gondola had just left the Trübsee station and was ascending the mid-section of the mountain when the accident took place.
Rescue operations involved the air rescue service, ambulances, and police officers.
Another video shared on social networks captured rescuers making their way to the crash site through deep snow.
Several eyewitnesses described experiencing extremely strong winds which caused the gondolas to sway, with police reporting gusts exceeding 80 km/h (50 mph). Typically, gondola services are suspended when winds surpass 60 km/h.
A skier recounted the moment, saying, My mother looked at me and said suddenly - look, a gondola is falling. She pretty much heard the impact and saw how it fell, while Beren Akkaya, a schoolchild at a nearby ski camp, expressed shock, stating, We were then afraid to go back down in the gondola.
The cable car service was suspended, with between 100 to 200 passengers safely evacuated from around 40 gondolas.
The ski lift management expressed their sorrow about the incident, with director Norbert Patt extending condolences to the victim's family.
