SIX HURT IN SKI LIFT ACCIDENT
Five children and an adult were injured after a chair-lift derailed at a Donside ski slope on Tuesday.
Thirty others were left stranded on the lift at the Lecht Ski Centre, near Tomintoul, for around an hour and a half.
Emergency services were alerted to the incident at 3.25pm.
Grampian Police and Braemar Mountain Rescue Teams were mobilised to assist with the rescue of those stranded.
Units from Grampian Fire and Rescue Service, the Scottish Ambulance Service and local doctors were also called to the scene to assist.
Police said the six people who were taken to hospital suffered “non life-threatening” injuries, mainly involving the spine, pelvis and legs.
Everyone else was checked over by medical personnel at the ski centre.
It is believed the accident happened when the tow rope on the chair-lift came off. The six people fell about 20ft (6m) to the ground.
A spokesperson for the Lecht said: ““We are extremely upset that these people have been injured.
“All the casualties are in a stable condition, three were taken to hospital by helicopter and three by ambulance.
“Staff evacuated 36 people that were stuck on the other chair-lifts and everyone was off the slope within an hour and 40 minutes.
“We don’t know the reason for the accident, however the Health and Safety Executive and the Lecht will be investigating the cause. “The chair will be out of action for a while but the rest of the lifts will be working as normal.”
The Lecht Ski Centre, on the eastern side of the Cairngorms, is one of five main ski resorts in Scotland — Nevis Range, Glencoe, Glenshee, Cairngorms and The Lecht.
There were a large number of children on the ski slopes because it is still the half-term school holidays in many parts of the country.
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Weather for Banchory, Scotland
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
