Mont-Tremblant gondola accident kills 1, seriously injures another

One person was killed and another was critically injured when both were thrown from a sightseeing gondola Sunday at a popular resort near Montreal in Canada, according to resort officials.

The crash occurred when a piece of construction equipment struck the panoramic gondola at the Mont-Tremblant Ski Resort, Quebec provincial police confirmed to the Associated Press. Located in Quebec’s Laurentian Mountains, the resort is about 80 miles northwest of Montreal, the largest city of Canada’s Quebec province.

The force of the impact knocked both passengers from the gondola and sent them plummeting to the ground, police said. One of the passengers was killed, while the second has been taken to a Montreal-area hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A statement provided to USA TODAY from the resort association confirmed the fatal crash and said that activities at the mountain have been suspended. The association also said the incident involved construction machinery operated by a third party.

“We are saddened by this situation and Station Mont Tremblant offers its most sincere condolences to all those involved,” Annique Aird, Mont Tremblant’s vice-president of sales, marketing and communications, said in the statement.

The resort said in a post on Facebook that other activities on the mountain, including the remainder of a blues festival, were canceled due to the incident.

Quebec’s Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx said on Twitter that she is monitoring the situation closely.