A Delaware state senator and his two daughters were among the people injured in the ski lift accident at Sugarloaf Mountain Ski Resort last month, The News Journal of Delaware has confirmed.
State Sen. Michael Katz told the newspaper that he and his two daughters are recovering from injuries sustained Dec. 28 when the lift derailed and their chairs fell about 35 feet to the snow.
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Katz had not returned phone messages left by the Portland Press Herald, although his name was reported in the days after the accident as one of the patients being treated at Maine Medial Center. Eight people were taken to hospitals after the accident, although all have since been released.
“The chairs fell to the ground,” Katz told The News Journal. “I would prefer not to go into the details of the medical details,” said Katz, an anesthesiologist from Centerville. “We really are focusing on the family privacy and just allowing everybody to heal.”
Katz and his wife own a home near the base of Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, although he is now at home in Delaware, according to an aide. The website for the Delaware Legislature says Katz attended Bates College in Lewiston.
Even though he’s walking a little slow, Katz told the Journal he intends to be in Dover on Tuesday for the start of the 2011 legislative session.
“I wouldn’t miss the first day,” said Katz, who plans to be back at his medical practice later this week.
Katz, a Democrat, is in the middle of his first term representing the 4th District. He has said he intends to run for re-election in 2012.
The accident remains under investigation by state inspectors. Sugarloaf is working to repair the Spillway East ski lift but has no schedule yet for when it will be reopened.
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