Canadian cable car severed for second time, sabotage suspected

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is currently investigating another severed cable car cord incident that occurred around 11:00 GMT at the Sea-to-Sky gondola located in Squamish, Vancouver on Monday. This is apparently the second incident in just over a year which leads authorities to suspect a sabotage while the site management and staff are left in utter bewilderment.

The thick downhill cable seemed to have been severed with an intent to cause another major site accident as it sent dozens of cable cars crashing into the mountain. The gondola operator said there were no guests nor staff on board the cars when the line snapped. No injuries were reported.

It was in August 2019 when around 30 cars on the gondola fell to ground after its cable was discovered to have been deliberately cut. The attraction had only reopened in February after the first incident caused damages amounting to £8 million to repair. Rebuilding the gondola entailed replacement of a new main cable measuring 2.73 miles in length and 55-mm thick. The site also had a new security system installed as it felt the need to beef up measures to avoid another disaster.

According to the site's general manager, Kirby Brown, "This event mirrors last year's event in a very eerie fashion. We're all stunned and shocked," he said.

"To me, this is somebody sabotaging our business."

Fortunately there were no guests on the line at the time of the incident, as the metal cabins could have easily fallen from a height of 300 metres before slamming and crashing the cars into the mountainside. There is no telling the extent of injuries it could've caused.

Brown said their crew has not been able to fully assess damages due to the smoke coming from the ongoing wildfires in the US making it impossible for helicopters to fly around the vicinity to conduct inspections. He said only six of all 39 cars were safely secured at their stations, expecting the rest have all been damaged beyond repair, CBC-Radio Canada reports.

The gondola ride is now closed until further notice.

Investigations are underway whereby management said their new security system was able to capture images of a possible suspect. No further statement has been released to indicate if the cable was cut from the same location.