A father and two children were injured in a ski lift accident in Pennsylvania on Sunday, when a chair broke off the lift and came crashing down onto the slopes below.
The incident happened at Camelback Resort on Camelback Mountain in the Poconos on Sunday afternoon, local police told broadcaster WBRE.
Authorities said the dad and his two children fell at least 4.5 metres (15 feet) in the chair and suffered serious injuries upon hitting the ground.
Witness Douglas Mackie, who was two chairs back on the same lift, says the accident occurred after the lift came to a sudden stop. The chairs started swaying and Mackie saw the father reach for his kids.
He told ABC 6 that the family’s chair “started really going bad and it went up almost vertical and they popped right off.”
“It went up like that, then straight down and bam!” he added in a separate interview with broadcaster WFMZ. “The kids were screaming,” he said.
Witness Gingi Hilell, who is a volunteer EMT, says he rushed over to help after the chair fell.
“I just bolted there. I wanted to make sure everyone was OK,” he told WBRE. “They were suffering from back pain and pelvic and head injuries,” he said.
Rescue crews arrived on the scene a few minutes later.
“We are devastated by the weekend’s events on the Sullivan Lift and our hearts go out to the family involved,” Camelback Resort said in a statement. “We thank you for your patience as we continue to conduct a thorough investigation. In the meantime, the Sullivan Lift remains closed.”
Details about the victims’ injuries were not released.
Comments