Overview

• Officials report eight injured, including one with a spinal cord injury and another in serious condition, with no fatalities recorded.
• Four victims plunged into Lake Trek and six others fell to the ground before rescue crews also evacuated 13 passengers who were left suspended in their chairs.
• Rescuers from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry launched a large-scale operation that treated the injured tourists and cleared the collapsed lift.
• The Investigative Committee for the Kabardino-Balkaria region is examining cable wear and potential maintenance lapses as the preliminary cause.
• Installed in 1968, the decades-old chairlift had drawn prior complaints about rust and outdated equipment, raising concerns over safety oversight.