Gondolas stop for 1h amid cold wave

[Anchor]

Amid the severe cold, there have been alarming accidents.

At a resort in Muju, Jeollabuk-do province, a gondola suddenly stopped while in operation, leaving over 300 passengers trembling in the cold and fear for about an hour.

Kim Hyun-joo reports.

[Report]

At the summit of Mt. Deogyusan, visitors who got off the gondola are moving in line under the guidance of firefighters.

Near the ticket office at the base of the mountain, announcements are repeatedly made about the suspension of gondola operations.

["Today's tourist gondola has ended operations due to an emergency mechanical inspection."]

This morning (1.9) at around 10:15 AM, the gondola traveling to the summit of Mt. Deogyusan suddenly stopped in mid-air.

There were over 300 people on the 80 gondolas heading towards the 1,520-meter-high Seolcheonbong Peak of Mt. Deogyusan.

The gondola stopped about 15 minutes after starting its operation.

At that time, the temperature at the Deogyusan site in Muju was recorded at minus 11 degrees Celsius.

Passengers had to endure the cold and fear for about an hour inside the gondola, which had no heating, until emergency operations resumed.

[Yoo Jeong-hwan/Jeonju, Jeonbuk province: "They said it seemed like a power outage.People were lined up, but the gondola and everything else was stopped."]

One female passenger in her 50s lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital.

It was confirmed that there were no issues during the regular inspection of the gondola last May.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority is investigating electrical overload as the cause of the accident and has begun safety inspections.

On the Seohaean Expressway near the Julpo Interchange, about 20 vehicles were involved in a series of collisions due to heavy snowfall.

As a result of this accident, a truck driver in his 30s was injured and taken to the hospital, and vehicle traffic on the Seonunsan-Julpo Interchange section was temporarily halted.

This is KBS News Kim Hyun-joo.