An 83-year-old skier died after falling from a chairlift on the Alpe di Siusi, in South Tyrol. A 55-year-old is hospitalized in serious conditions in Bolzano hospital. The accident occurred near the valley station of the Goldknopf ski lift. The two skiers would have fallen from a height of approximately seven metres. The Aiut Alpin Dolomites and Pelikan 2 helicopters intervened on site, as did the mountain rescue and the carabinieri.
The accident occurred shortly after the valley station. It is a modern four-seater system with automatic release, which allows skiers to take their seats with the system traveling at a reduced speed which only accelerates after the start. The police who intervened on site will clarify what exactly happened. Evidently they hadn’t had time to lower the safety bar. Perhaps one of the two women couldn’t sit down properly and the other tried to help her.
At a certain moment the two women fell into the void, ending up on the ski slope. The accident was observed by some skiers who were descending a few meters away at the time, fortunately no one was involved.
The Aiut Alpin Dolomites and Pelikan 2 helicopters arrived on site. The emergency doctor immediately began resuscitation procedures, but the elderly woman died on the spot. The other skier instead suffered a serious polytrauma and was hospitalized in intensive care at the Bolzano hospital.
Chair lift back in operation, CEO: ‘It wasn’t a technical fault
The Goldknopf chairlift on the Alpe di Siusi is back in operation after this morning’s fatal accident. The green light confirms that “what happened was not of a technical nature”. Thus in an interview with the news portal Stol.it Helmut Sartori, CEO of the company that manages the ski lifts on the Alpe di Siusi. Sartori speaks of a “terrible accident”.
The accident occurred around 11 in the morning near the third pylon of the chairlift. As the CEO points out, every winter in Alto Adige “more than 125 million guests are transported, with 6-7 accidents per year”. “In recent years we have not had any fatal accidents, which makes what happened today even more dramatic,” says Sartori. The chairlift was renovated last summer. “Now we have to find out what exactly happened,” he reiterates.
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