A tourist aged 53 was discovered deceased by ski resort staff members in shock as the gondola he was riding on reached the peak of a mountain.
The visitor’s body was found by the gondola operator on January 6 afternoon. It is suspected that he experienced a cardiac arrest after boarding the mountain lift alone at the Val Cenis ski resort in Savoie, situated in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, southeastern France.
Two ski patrollers made efforts to revive the man using a defibrillator, and emergency services, along with local police, hurried to the location, but he was pronounced deceased on-site. Concurrently, another fatal incident occurred at the nearby Les Menuires resort in Savoie on the same day, where a Spanish skier was found unconscious near a rock in an unmarked skiing zone.
On December 28, a five-year-old boy lost his life at the Asarigawa Onsen ski resort in Otaru, Japan, after his arm got entangled in a lift. The child tragically passed away after falling and being trapped in the ski travelator’s machinery, as reported by Japanese media. Authorities are currently investigating the incident that occurred at the renowned ski resort.
Local reports indicate that Hinata Goto was about to exit the travelator when he slipped and his right arm became stuck in the machinery. Despite the travelator’s safety features, the machine only stopped when the boy’s mother activated the emergency stop.
Rescue teams spent approximately 40 minutes dismantling sections of the travelator to free the unconscious boy. He was then rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities are now probing the incident to determine if there was any negligence in the travelator’s installation or maintenance. Staff members at the Asarigawa Onsen Ski Resort have stated that the safety mechanism was operational earlier in the day.
The travelator, measuring 30m (98 ft) in length and 60cm (24 in) in width, was installed around six years ago. This device, lacking handrails, links the resort’s parking lot to the ski slopes.
Travelator ski lifts, commonly known as “magic carpet” lifts, are typically found on beginner slopes. Visitors have reported instances of stumbling when using the specific travelator in which the incident occurred, as per Japanese media accounts.
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