Engelberg is a popular ski resort in central Switzerland.
Keystone-SDA
One person died in a cable car accident in the Engelberg-Titlis ski resort in central Switzerland on Wednesday morning. The individual was alone in the gondola, Nidwalden cantonal police have confirmed. The exact cause of the accident is unknown, though strong winds were reported in the region.
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This content was published on
March 18, 2026 – 15:17
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A gondola cabin detached and rolled over several times, the police said. “At the time of the accident, only one person was on board. They succumbed to their injuries,” Senad Sakic, an official from the Nidwalden cantonal police, told reporters at a press conference.
“We cannot say anything about this person until their identity is confirmed,” the police said, adding that they will now question the people involved and witnesses. The accident occurred at around 11:30am.
The newspaper Blick was the first to report the accident on Wednesday. A video published on the Blick website (seen below) shows the cabin plunging down a snowy slope.
Emergency services and Rega helicopters were rushed to the scene.
People are currently being evacuated from other gondolas because the cable car stopped operating after the accident.
According to Blick, the ski lift involved in the incident was the Titlis Xpress Trübsee-Stand gondola, which opened in 2015. The Engelberg resort website says that gondolas on this lift can each carry eight people.
Engelberg-Titlis is the largest ski resort in central Switzerland, offering 82 kilometres of marked runs ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 metres above sea level.
The Xpress Trübsee-Stand connection takes guests to ski slopes at an altitude of around 2,400 metres. The lift is just under 1,900 metres long.
Keystone / Urs Flueeler
Numerous local ski lifts were closed on Wednesday due to strong winds. The Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) had issued a wind warning of level 2 for “moderate danger”.
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Adapted from Italian by AI/sb
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