One killed after Colombia cable car falls from station

One person is dead and nine people have been injured after a cable car cabin carrying 10 people fell from a station in the Colombian city of Medellín, authorities say.

Local reports said the accident occurred around 04:30 local time (10:30 GMT) on the K line of the city’s Metrocable network of cable cars.

Dozens of people were reported trapped on cabins which were stopped between stations.

The Metrocable, which opened in 2004, was the first public transport network of its kind.

The victim was named as Jhon Jairo Londoño, 55.

“There is an emergency on the Metrocable system in the northeastern area of Medellín. A cabin with 10 people tell to the lower part of the platform at Popular Station,” Mayor Fico Gutiérrez said.

“People are being transferred to medical care centres.”

Footage on local media showed people lying on the ground.

Carlos Quintero, head of Medellín’s disaster response agency, told local media that one cabin had stopped as it entered the station and had been struck by the following cabin, which then “detached and fell to the pavement”.

The Metrocable, inaugurated in 2004, is composed of six lines and 20 stations. It is credited with connecting low-income areas of the city lying on steep hills to the centre, cutting crime.

Metrocable manager Tomás Elejalde told reporters Wednesday’s accident was the worst since the system was inaugurated.