130 stranded skiers rescued from Italian resort

Rome: More than 100 skiers have been rescued after being trapped on the slopes of the Italian resort of Cervinia after a lift failed in high winds, authorities announced.

Adriano Favre, the head of the rescue team in the Aosta Valley, yesterday announced the successful rescue just before midnight. The skiers had been stuck since 1430 GMT (2000 IST).

"Luckily the wind wasn't too cold... there are no cases of hypothermia, and everything is under control," Favre said.

The wind had been blowing at up to 150 kilometres an hour and had caused damage to infrastructure on the mountain, he added.

Around 150 rescuers worked for hours to free the 130 skiers, who were stuck between two points of the lift - between 2,550 metres and 2,800 metres.