VANCOUVER: Five people were injured when a gondola tower partially collapsed on Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler, the Canadian ski resort hosting alpine events during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Two people were sent by ambulance to the resort’s emergency health center and were “in stable condition,” while three others had minor injuries, said Anna Marie D’Angelo, health authority spokeswoman.
A total of 53 people were trapped by the incident on the Excaliber ski lift, said a press release from Whistler-Blackcomb. As night fell mountain ski patrollers and local fire, police and ambulance officials were using ropes, ladders and fire trucks to rescue people.
Temperatures in the area, just above the village of Whistler, were minus 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Farenheit). Whistler is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Vancouver.
The gondola was built in 1994 and had “an extensive safety check” by a British Columbia provincial authority within the last six months, said Whistler-Blackcomb.
The incident comes just four days after the company opened its new peak-to-peak gondola connecting the tops of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.
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