At least six people have been injured in a cable car accident at the popular Alpine ski resort Val Thorens.
The accident occurred at around 7.30am on Tuesday morning during challenging weather conditions in the French Alps, according to a statement from the Savoie regional administration.
A cabin of the Cime Caron cable car, used for construction work, collided with the arrival station while carrying 16 workers, authorities said.
Two of the victims were seriously injured but none of the injuries are life-threatening.
Firefighters, paramedics and high-mountain rescue teams evacuated the injured workers using a nearby gondola. They were transported to hospitals in Annecy and Grenoble.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.
François Ravier, the prefect for the Savoy region, said: “It is too early to know the exact circumstances that led to this accident.
“We will have to wait for the preliminary results of the investigation.”
Regional authorities have set up a crisis management cell and a “mass casualty plan” to coordinate rescue efforts.
Val Thorens attracts skiers from across Europe and is one of the 3 Vallees grouping of ski resorts that includes Courchevel and Meribel.
The Cime Caron cable car was once the longest in the world at the time of its construction in 1982, the resort’s website says.
The resort was set to open for the winter season on November 23.
In July last year, helicopters were used to evacuate nearly 300 people from a high-mountain station in the Swiss Alps after a cable car to the top broke down.
The cable car had been travelling up to the Glacier 3000 ski resort in the Les Diablerets mountain massif when an electrical failure in the engine system caused it to break down.
