Dozens of Cable Cars Crashed to the Ground. Police Believe It Was Intentional

Fortunately it wasn't operating at the time, because this is terrifying: Nearly all of the 30 gondola cars carried by the Sea-to-Sky gondola in Squamish, British Columbia, fell to the ground around 4am Saturday after the cable snapped. Authorities suspect someone cut the cable in "a deliberate act of vandalism," a RCMP officer says, per the CBC. The 1.2-mile, 10-minute gondola ride, which gives visitors a view of Howe Sound as it carries them from the ground to the summit nearly 3,000 feet above sea level, is a popular tourist attraction. Campers in the area say they were awakened by loud bangs and scraping sounds, but no one was injured in the incident.

"It's just an incredibly unusual thing to happen," the general manager says. "We just did our maintenance on the line very recently and it was a big, thick, beautiful healthy rope." The six-strand cable is more than two inches thick and made to withstand most weather. The RCMP is working with experts to see if it had been compromised or cut deliberately, and is seeking witnesses to the incident. Preliminary results indicate "no environmental mechanism" responsible for the incident, another RCMP rep says, per CTV News. The incident is said to have caused more than $1 million Canadian in property damages, plus lost revenue. The gondola will be closed "for some time," per Global News. (More Canada stories.)