Baby survives cable car fall, parents killed

Baby survives cable car fall, parents killed

A one-year-old girl miraculously survived a 30m plunge from a cable car on a Swiss hillside but her parents were killed in the incident.

The family of three was in a car heading uphill to the Baerlaui Alp last week when the car suddenly tipped forward and tossed them to a patch of rocks, said The New Zealand Herald.

The mother, 31, and father, 38, died from the fall. But the girl, who was being carried in a backpack, survived by landing on a tree. She was treated for serious injuries but was expected to live. Nurses and doctors have nicknamed the resilient baby after the mountain flower Edelweiss that is able to survive the region's severe weather conditions.

Officials said the father, a Switzerland native who lived with his wife in Canada, recently went to the country to visit family, the New York Daily News reported.

A local police spokesman said the car was not designed for passenger use.

"It is a freight vehicle that was being used on the day of the accident by an employee of the area," the spokesman said.

The police later arrested a worker, who they believe illegally allowed the family to ride the lift, reports said.


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