Strong winds blew down several skiers at US resort

A chairlift at Maine's tallest ski mountain derailed yesterday, injuring eight people who plummeted 25 feet to the mountain below, resort officials said.

The harrowing ordeal left another 150 people stranded on the lift at Sugarloaf Mountain ski resort in Carrabassett Valley, some for as long as two chilling hours, enduring wind gusts of 25 miles per hour or more while rescuers worked to get them down, officials said.

The injured skiers were transported to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine, said Ethan Austin, a spokesman for the resort. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, officials said, Boston Globe reports.

A hospital official says three children were among those who were injured while falling from a failed chair lift at one of Maine's most popular ski resorts.

Franklin Memorial Hospital Executive Vice President Gerald Cayer (KAYR) says eight people were taken to the hospital, including one flown to Maine Medical Center in Portland. He says a second patient was later transferred to the Maine Medical trauma center.

The lift went into service in 1975 and recently passed an inspection. The resort says it was set for improvements but wouldn't say when, BusinessWeek reports.