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Ski slopes near Braemar, Aberdeenshire
Skiers and snowboarders descend the slopes near Braemar, Aberdeenshire: none of the injured at the Lecht Ski Centre was thought to be in a life-threatening condition. Photograph: Simon Price/Alamy
Skiers and snowboarders descend the slopes near Braemar, Aberdeenshire: none of the injured at the Lecht Ski Centre was thought to be in a life-threatening condition. Photograph: Simon Price/Alamy

Children hurt after chairlift derails at Scottish ski resort

This article is more than 11 years old
Five children and an adult taken to hospital after incident at Lecht Ski Centre near Tomintoul, Aberdeenshire

Five children and an adult have been taken to hospital after a chairlift derailed at the Lecht Ski Centre near Tomintoul in Scotland.

Three of the group were airlifted from the slope while the others were taken by ambulance. None was thought to be in a life-threatening condition.

The company which runs the ski resort has said it is "extremely upset" by the incident. In a statement published on its Facebook page, Lecht 2090 said it did not know what caused the malfunction at 3.25pm on Tuesday afternoon at Corgarff in Aberdeenshire.

An investigation was due to take place by the Health and Safety Executive and the chairlift, which is the only lift of its kind at the ski resort, is expected to remain closed.

The statement read: "Some of you might know there was an incident with the chairlift this afternoon (Tuesday) where six people were injured. We are extremely upset that these people have been injured but as yet we don't [know] the cause of the problem with the chair.

"The first response was to look after the injured. The rest of the skiers were then taken off the chairlift by the two Lecht teams within around one hour and 20 minutes.

"A major incident was called by the company to alert all the other emergency agents who reacted quickly. The chair will be out of action for a while but the rest of the lifts will be working as normal."

A spokeswoman for the Lecht centre said 36 other people who were stranded on the chairlift were rescued after the accident. She said: "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 chairlifts 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."

A number of comments were left on the company's Facebook page by people who said they had been present at the time of the accident, and they praised the work of rescue teams and the emergency services during the incident.

A Grampian police spokesman said Braemar mountain rescue teams were mobilised to assist with the rescue of those stranded and units from Grampian fire and rescue service, the Scottish ambulance service and local doctors were also called to the scene.

"Inquiries are ongoing to establish the cause of the incident," he said.

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