Six Injured After Cable Car Crashes at 9,000 Feet (Video)

A peaceful ski day turned into a nightmare high above the Italian Alps when a cable car packed with families slammed into a mountain station at terrifying speed — leaving a child and five others injured, and nearly 100 people stranded in the freezing air.

The disaster struck Sunday at the Macugnaga ski resort in Italy’s Piedmont region, a stunning but treacherous mountain range near the Swiss border. Witnesses said the cabin was moving “way too fast” as it climbed toward the summit, moments before it slammed into a concrete barrier with a sickening crash.

❌ Macugnaga (VB), intervento #vigilidelfuoco, con @cnsas_official e @GDF, in corso dalle 11:30 per un incidente a due cabine della Funivia Al Moro: feriti il manovratore a valle e 3 dei 15 passeggeri a monte. In azione 2 elicotteri Drago per l’evacuazione di persone bloccate in… pic.twitter.com/6cI1H6RWY4

— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) December 30, 2025

“We were almost there when everything went wrong,” one passenger told Corriere Torino. “The car started speeding up. Then — bang — we hit the station wall and everyone went flying. We fell into each other. My dad’s arm was bleeding, and people were screaming.”

Panic erupted inside the cabin as skiers, children, and even pets were thrown against the walls. The impact shattered glass and left terrified passengers clinging to one another as alarms blared in the thin mountain air.

Filippo Besozzi, director of Macugnaga Trasporti e Servizi, admitted to Italian media that a “technical problem” had caused the system to malfunction.

“The cabin came in too quickly,” he said. “We triggered the emergency brakes, but despite that, it slammed into the safety barrier. Thankfully no one is in critical condition — but it could have been far worse.”

The crash instantly froze operations on the mountain. Ski lifts stopped midair, and more than 90 people were trapped in dangling cars over snow-covered ravines.

Firefighters scrambled helicopters into the night sky, lowering rescue teams onto icy cables as they worked to airlift everyone to safety. “They’re safe, but shaken,” one rescuer told reporters. “This could have easily become another Stresa disaster.”

The crash has reignited memories of Italy’s haunting cable car tragedies — and new fears about the country’s aging lift infrastructure.

In April, a British couple, Elaine and Graeme Winn, were among four people killed when their car plunged 100 feet down a cliff near Naples. And in 2021, 14 people — including two children — were killed when a cable snapped near Lake Maggiore, sending their gondola careening into the trees below.

“This latest crash shows we’ve learned nothing,” said transport safety expert Luca Ferraro. “These systems are ticking time bombs if they’re not constantly maintained.”

The Macugnaga lift was built in 1962 but underwent a $2.2 million overhaul just last year, including brand-new motors, pulleys, and cabins — upgrades heavily funded by regional taxpayers.

Now locals are furious, demanding to know how a newly renovated system could nearly kill its passengers. “Someone has to answer for this,” said one resident. “That cable car is supposed to be state-of-the-art — not a death trap.”

All six victims — including the injured child — were airlifted to nearby hospitals. None of their injuries were said to be life-threatening. But for those inside the car, the psychological scars will linger.

“We were just going skiing,” the shaken passenger recalled. “Now I can’t stop hearing the crash in my head. It felt like the whole mountain shook.”

Authorities have launched a full investigation into the incident. The Macugnaga cableway remains shut indefinitely — and for skiers, the beauty of the Alps now carries a chilling reminder of how quickly paradise can turn to panic.