More Than 100 Rescued From Dangling Cab

Nine people -- six of them children -- died Monday when a helicopter accidentally dropped a concrete block on an Austrian cable car. More than 100 people in other cable cars were rescued.

The helicopter, type not yet known, was reportedly carrying the 1,653 pound block to the top of the mountain at the Soelden ski resort, about 1650 feet above the cable car. The load detached from the helicopter and struck the cable, shaking one car so violently that it fell to the rocks below.

"Everything happened very quickly and now we have nine people dead," Solden Mayor Ernst Schoepf told Austrian television. "The block dropped on the cable, set it swinging, causing one car to fall and the others to swing around."

Other reports indicated the concrete block hit the cable car itself.

"The people and cars fell about 15 meters," said police spokesman Gottlieb Huetter. "The injuries of some survivors were quite bad. People were flung out of the cars when they collided due to the vibration on the cables."

The dead were identified as vacationing Germans. Soelden is a popular destination in both summer and winter, with more than 3,000 cable cars and ski lifts. A dozen helicopters worked to rescue those stranded in swinging cars while rescuers worked on the ground as well.

Ten of those rescued were said to have been seriously injured.

Roy Knaus, who runs Heli Alpin Knaus, the company which operated the helicopter, said the unidentified pilot was "in a state of shock," according to British news reports. Knaus said an investigation is now underway to determine why the helicopter dropped the load.

FMI: www.austria.gv.at/DesktopDefault.aspx?alias=english&init