Five people injured as chairlift breaks and crashes into others 'in a domino effect' and stranded skiers have to be lowered to safety with a rope
- A chair on the chairlift at Tussey Mountain slipped loose and slid backwards
- It slid backwards into another chair, causing a domino effect on the rope
- By the end of it, four chairs carrying skiers and snowboarders had slipped in to one another
- Five people - all of whom work for the resort - suffered non-life-threatening injuries
- The chairlift was carrying 20 people, all of whom were evacuated once it had stopped
- They were pictured being hoisted down by emergency services on ropes
Five people have been injured in a chairlift accident in Pennsylvania.
The ski lift malfunctioned on Tussey Mountain near Boalsburg on Saturday morning as hundreds of snow sports enthusiasts descended on the slopes to make the most of fresh powder.
The malfunction was caused when one chair, which was carrying resort staff, slid backwards into another.
The weight of it caused a domino effect and, once the lift had been stopped, four had been slammed together.
It was a dramatic sight which sparked panic on the mountain and led the evacuation of the entire chairlift.
Scroll down for video
Four chairs on the chairlift at Tussey Mountain in Pennsylvania crashed in to one another on Saturday afternoon after one slipped loose as it was moving, causing a domino effect
A child is evacuated from another seat after the chairlift was brought to a stop. Emergency service workers used ropes to hoist people down
Everyone who was on it when it malfunctioned had to be hoisted down by emergency services.
The five people who were injured are all mountain staff and none suffered life threatening injuries.
Tussey Mountain staff told DailyMail.com that it was an 'unfortunate' accident which they are now looking in to.
They dismissed reports that skiers were 'crushed and pinned' beneath the heavy lift, saying: 'We had a malfunction, a chair carrying skiers and snowboarders slipped along the hull rope and slipped back which caused a domino effect which resulted in a total of four slipped chairs.
'They did not fall, they did not collapse, no one was crushed.
'There were minor injuries which we are saddened by but we are encouraged that they're all non-life-threatening,' Aaron Weyman, the resort's Director of Marketing, said.
'The chairlift was stopped and we got everyone off,' he added.
The chairlift at Tussey Mountain was halted and emergency services evacuated it. This was the scene not long after the accident
The resort tweeted that it was having 'difficulties' with the chairlift at around 10.30am and tweeted '#sorry' - a remark which was met with fury by victims' relatives
Later, it sent out another tweet to apologize for causing any offense
Weyman assured that the equipment was sound, saying: 'All of our equipment was tested and passed local laws [but] we're going to double and triple check everything.'
The chairlift remained closed for the rest of the day but will be reopened on Friday if it is proven to be safe enough to use again, he said.
Twitter users responded angrily to a tweet the mountain's staff sent out immediately after the accident which included the hashtag 'sorry'.
One critic said she was the wife of one of the injured.
'My husband, your employee is sitting here in the ER. So is another employee... Sorry???
'How about you show some concern for the employees and other people injured???' she said.
Later, the resort sent out another tweet apologizing for causing any offense.
'At the time the office was notified of a lift malfunction and when this original tweet was made, we were under the impression it was solely a lift issue and there were no injuries. We apologize to anyone who was offended by our hashtag,' they said.
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