22-year-old Australian snowboarder dies after backpack gets caught in ski lift

An Australian woman died after her backpack got caught in a ski lift, leaving her suspended mid-air at a resort in central Japan.

Ella Day Brooke, 22, suffered a cardiac arrest following the incident on 30 January at the Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Nagano prefecture located in Japan’s Honshu island.

An unfastened waist-belt buckle on her backpack became caught on the lift chair while the chest strap stayed secured, dragging her across the snow and leaving her hanging mid-air, the resort said.

According to reports, Brooke sustained critical injuries in the incident.

“Because the chest strap of the backpack was fastened, the backpack did not detach from the guest’s body, and the guest was dragged along with the backpack after disembarking from the lift,” the company’s chief executive, Kubo Tsuneo, said in a statement.

The lift was stopped by an attendant who pressed the emergency button and rushed the woman to the hospital after she suffered a cardiac arrest.

“Emergency assistance was promptly provided, and the guest was then transported to a hospital by ambulance,” the statement read.

However, Brooke was declared dead by the hospital upon arrival.

Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade confirmed her death and said they were providing consular assistance to the woman’s family.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time. Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment,” a spokesperson for the department said.

The Tsugaike Mountain Resort and Tsugaike Gondola Lift Co issued a joint apology and said an investigation would be launched into the incident.