One person died and another was seriously injured on Sunday after being knocked off a scenic cable car in the popular tourist resort of Mont-Tremblant, authorities reported.
Quebec Provincial Police say that the accident was caused by a drilling machine.
The machine struck two cable cars, one empty and another with two people inside. Police do not know why the drilling machine was in operation or beneath the cable car, said Éric Cadotte, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). The SQ said they do not rule out criminal negligence.
"It was very serious, a part of the cable car was torn off and people had no chance, they simply fell to the ground from several meters high, hitting the ground hard," said Cadotte. "The impact was very brutal. Why was the drilling machine there and working beneath the cable cars on a Sunday?"
Sources told Radio-Canada that the drilling machine operator, a 30-year-old subcontractor, wanted to move it to save time before the work he had to do on Monday. He then struck the two cable cars and was treated for nervous shock at the hospital.
The man who died and the woman who was seriously injured were both 50 years old and from Ontario. The woman is still fighting for her life in the hospital, said Cadotte. The SQ said an investigation is underway, and they will speak with witnesses, the drilling machine operator, and the resort's workers.