Lift Operator Killed In Czech Cable Car Accident

One person has been killed as a result of a cable car accident at the Ještěd cableway. The operator of the cable car that fell to the ground at Ještěd mountain has been pronounced dead at the scene a Liberec regional rescue service spokesperson said.

The cable car fell close the first tower of the lift and has been completely demolished.  

"One cabin fell while on its way down," rescue services spokesman Michael Georgiev told Czech television. "There was one person inside, who unfortunately succumbed to their injuries."

The operator was alone in his car when it fell, but a second car with 14 passengers and another driver was left hanging on the lift. The fall was reported at about 1:30 p.m. today. Firefighters evacuated people from the second car, which was stuck 15 meters above the ground. 

The crash took place the day before the cable car was scheduled to undergo a planned two-week maintenance.

The Ještěd cableway is among the oldest classical aerial cableways. It was financed by Czechoslovak State Railways and built by the renowned Chrudim company of František Wiesner. Construction was launched on 15 June 1932 and the completed cableway began operating on 27 June 1933. Between 1971 and 1975 the cableway underwent an extensive reconstruction as a result of which it became a world-class cableway. The reconstruction was performed by the company Transporta Chrudim and the reconstructed cableway began operating on 31 December 1975.

The lift links Horní Hanychov in the city of Liberec with the summit of Ještěd mountain with the Ještěd Tower,  a 94-meter-tall television transmitter built on the top of Mount Ještěd near Liberec in the Czech Republic.  The design cleverly combines the operation of a mountain-top hotel and a television transmitter in one. The hotel and the restaurant are located in the lowest sections of the tower.