Maine ski lift accident injures 6

Ski patrol crews rescued more than 200 people stuck on a chairlift at a Maine ski resort after a derailment injured at least six people.

The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. ETTuesdayat Sugarloaf Mountainin Carrabassett Valley, Maine, about 60 kilometres from the Quebec border.

Officials at the resort said about six people were taken to hospitals after five chairs fell. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.

The resort said the lift, which went into service in 1975 and recently passed an inspection, was set for improvements but wouldn't say when.

The incident occurred when the Spillway East lift derailed from the lift's eighth tower, allowing five chairs to fallseven to nine metres to the ground.

There were 50 to 160 people on the lift at the time, according to resort officials. Sugarloaf workers used a pulley-like system to lower skiers to safety.

Rebecca London, one of the skiers who tumbled to the snow, told The Associated Press that she had a soft landing because the mountain had not groomed the new-fallen snow under the lift. Her face hit the retaining bar, but her goggles spared her from serious injury, she said.

London said she wasn't hurt badly enough to go to hospital.

Jay Marshall, who was on a lift next to the broken one, saidboth lifts stopped, then restarted. Almost immediately he saw a problem, then heard screams.

"The lift started again,"Marshall said. "I looked to my left and could see the cable bouncing up and down. I could see that the cable had come off the [track wheels].

"Once the thing started bouncing up and down beside me, I stopped looking. I didn't want to see it, honestly. It was terrifying."

The cause of the incident isunder investigation,the resort said.