TL;DR
An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.
An aerial tram on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez collided with a construction crane on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people
The aerial tram, carrying around fifty passengers, struck the articulated boom of a crane operating at a construction site on the route towards Pic Blanc at around 9:30am on Wednesday 26 August. The collision happened shortly after the cabin left its base station, at an altitude of around 2,300 metres. Aerial tram cabins are engineered to remain stable under sudden braking, but the impact with the crane's arm was enough to tip the cabin, and several occupants slid or fell inside it.
Local mayor Jean-Yves Noyrey told AFP that the cabin's operator reacted quickly, reversing the tram back along the line to level it out again after the collision. He said some passengers believed they were in serious danger in the moments after impact, but that the operator's response prevented the situation from escalating further.
Three seriously injured, most treated on site
Of the 23 people injured, three were classified by the Isère prefecture as being in "absolute emergency," the most serious category, while a further 13 were assessed as "relative emergency," a moderate classification. Most of those hurt were treated at the resort's own medical station. Five people were taken to Grenoble Alpes University Hospital for further evaluation, including a pregnant woman who was transferred as a precaution rather than due to a specific injury.
