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Three people have been left injured after a freak accident in the Australian snowfields on Saturday afternoon.
Two females in their 20s were treated for back injuries and one male suffered facial injuries after they fell off a ski lift following a "freak gust of wind", which reportedly detached "a single chair on Kosciuszko Chairlift" around 2.20pm.
Two people were flown to Canberra Hospital by helicopter, while the third patient was taken to Cooma Health Service.
READ MORE: Visitors turned away from ski resort after heavy Aussie snowfalls
"Thredbo can confirm there was an isolated incident," the resort said in a statement on Saturday.
"No other guests or chairs were affected. Thredbo is committed to the safety of our guests and our people.
"The incident is currently being thoroughly investigated by SafeWork NSW and an independent engineer. Thredbo assures guests that their safety is paramount and that we will continue to apply our high standards of safety and risk management."
The Kosciuszko Chairlift is Australia's longest chairlift at almost two kilometres in length and is 33 years old.
The four-seater lift replaced the old double chair in 1990, and is used year round by skiers and snowboarders in winter, and hikers and mountain bikers in summer.
It is believed the incident may have occurred at the top station, where there is little distance from the cable to the ground.
A wind gust of 65 km/h was recorded shortly before the incident at the weather station located near the cahirlift's top station.
This is not the first chairlift incident in recent years at Thredbo, which in 2022 was named Australia's best ski resort for the fifth consecutive year.
In 2019, a skier was bruised but otherwise unhurt after a chair dropped off the Gunbarrel Chairlift, a four-seater like the Kosciuszko Chairlift.
