At least 30 injured & dozens left trapped after ski lift pulley breaks & hurls riders from chairs at ski resort in Spain

AT least 30 people have been injured and dozens more left trapped after a ski lift pulley broke and hurled riders from their chairs at a northern Spanish ski resort.

Emergency services are currently working at the Astún ski resort in Huesca while several choppers are in use to urgently assist and transport those involved in the horror accident.

It was confirmed by the regional government that nine people are very seriously injured and eight seriously injured in the ordeal.

One woman, thought to be the most seriously injured, was taken to a nearby hospital via helicopter.

Meanwhile some skiers and snowboarders have been left dangling from the chairs of the lift while a mass evacuation takes place.

The Civil Guard confirmed that the accident occurred when a chairlift line "fell off" due to a problem with the cable which lost tension.

This sent the chairlift plunging from a height of 15 metres.

One survivor told a Spanish TV station amidst the chaos: "A pulley wheel appears to have broken or come loose and the cable started to jump around and every time it happened we went up and down.

“We were lucky in that we didn’t hit the ground but there were people in front of us who did hit the ground and received blows to their faces and other parts of their body.”

Another witness said people were flung into the air as the chairlifts bounced up and down.

Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet: “Shocked by the news of the accident at Astun ski resort.

“I have spoken to Aragon president Jorge Azcon to offer him the government’s full support.”

The resort stopped operating due to the horror incident on the Canal Roya runway.

All hospitals in the vicinity were notified and put on alert to receive the injured while a field hospital was reportedly set up in the area to carry out initial triage.

Four helicopters were dispatched to the site, along with firefighters and a whopping 56 ambulances.

The President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, and the Minister of the Interior, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, are on their way to the ski resort to understand the extent of the accident.

Azcón said on X: "All the necessary services of the DGA are working to assist the affected and injured people."