Cable-car accident injures five in Scottish Highlands

Cable-car accident injures five in Scottish Highlands{mosimage}LONDON — Five people, including a 3-year-old girl, were injured when two cable cars collided on a Scottish mountain range Thursday, police and resort officials said.

The Nevis Range ski resort in the Highlands of northwest Scotland said a gondola carrying five people struck another and detached about 500 meters (1,600 feet) from the top of a lift on Aonach Mor mountain.

Five people were treated at the scene and were airlifted to hospital by mountain rescue helicopters. All were conscious, the resort said in a statement.

A 52-year-old man with ”significant chest injuries” was transferred to hospital in Glasgow by helicopter, said Teresa James, spokeswoman for a local hospital. The man’s 24-year-old son, who was also taken to a hospital after the accident, had been discharged, she said.

The 3-year-old girl had what James described as a ”lower limb injury,” and her father had facial and spinal injuries, she said. The toddler’s mother’s injuries were unknown, but she was described as stable.

According to the Nevis Range’s Web site, the six-seater cable cars transport visitors 2,150 feet (655 meters) up Aonach Mor to panoramic viewpoints. In the summer, the area — home to 4,409-foot (1,344-meter) Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest peak — is popular with walkers.

— The Associated Press