MADRID: Thirty people were injured on Saturday, four of them seriously, when a chairlift broke down at a Spanish skiresortnearthe French border, regional officials said. The accident at the Astun ski resort in the Pyrenees occurred around midday.

Officials said 10 people had been hospitalised while another 20 were treated at the ski station by emergency services.

`Apparently, there wasa failure in the return pulley of one of the chairlifts and this caused the cable to lose tension, causing some chairs to fall and others to remain hanging,` said Miguel Angel Clavero, emergencies director for the Aragon region, where Astun is located.

Aragon`s top official said one woman had been airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. Three others were seriously injured.-AFP