A 61-year-old woman has died after a ski gondola came off its cable and plunged down Mount Titlis at the Engelberg resort in central Switzerland on Wednesday morning.
The crash happened at about 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT), officials said.
Police in the canton of Nidwalden say the victim was alone in a Titlis Xpress cabin that had just left the Trübsee station and was ascending the middle section of the route when it detached.
Investigators have not yet determined what caused the car to break free.
Video shared online shows the gondola tumbling down the snowy slope and flipping several times before stopping.
Witnesses reported extremely strong winds on the mountainside at the time of the accident.
Authorities said gusts exceeded 80 km/h, although the lift is normally shut down when winds top 60 km/h.
Rescuers including air ambulances, ground crews and police responded to the scene.
Around 100 to 200 people were brought to safety from roughly 40 cabins after operators halted the service, public broadcaster SRF reported.
Local lift managers expressed shock at the fatal accident and conveyed their condolences to the woman’s family.
Eyewitnesses described being shaken by the event; one skier said his mother saw the cabin fall and heard the impact, while a 14-year-old at a nearby ski camp said she was frightened to ride the gondola afterward.
Nidwalden police continue to probe the incident as the region reels from the tragedy.
