Overview
- Local police identified the victim as Ella Day Brooke, a 22-year-old Australian national.
- The incident occurred around 9 a.m. on Jan. 30 as the chair began its return from the top station at the Otari, Nagano Prefecture resort.
- According to the operator, an unfastened waist-belt buckle on her backpack caught on lift machinery as she tried to disembark, leaving her suspended.
- Resort staff stopped the lift and rescued her, but police said she was found in cardiac arrest and she was later confirmed dead on Feb. 1.
- Tsugaike Gondola Lift Co. says it is cooperating with police and reviewing safety measures, and the affected lift remains suspended indefinitely.