Two staff members at the Masikryong Ski Resort in Wonsan, Gangwon Province, were reportedly killed when the cable of a cable car they were inspecting snapped.
A source in Gangwon Province told Daily NK on Tuesday that two staff members at Masikryong Ski Resort fell to their death when the cable car they were inspecting “fell from the sky after the cable snapped.”
According to the source, North Korean authorities designated Nov. 24 as “inspection day” for Masikryong Ski Resort’s equipment and operations. On that day, a man in his 40s and a man in his 20s from the resort’s equipment department were inspecting the record logs of the cable car’s interior operating equipment when the accident occurred.
The accident was reported right away to Pyongyang. North Korean authorities ordered a thorough investigation, but also placed a gag order on the resort’s management staff, telling them that word must not get out of the accident at Masikryong Ski Resort, an international tourism site.
“Accidents do at the resort during the winter, but because this is the first in which people were killed – and involved a falling [cable car] – Pyongyang also ordered that everything be done [to address] safety issues regarding the equipment at the ski resort.”
Despite the gag order from North Korean authorities, however, staff at the resort’s management office have told their families and relatives not to come this winter since “there are frequent accidents.” The source said as word spreads, residents of other districts, including Wonsan, do not appear keen to visit the resort.
“Due to the accident, the ski resort’s management office has changed their operation plans for the time being in accordance with orders from the central government,” said the source. “I understand that they will carry out careful inspections of the equipment at the resort while waiting for further orders.”
