Heart fail ski plunge

A BRIT tourist has died after suffering a heart attack and plunging from a chairlift in the French Alps.

Jeff Martin, 65, fell more than 30ft from the lift while on holiday with family and friends. He had boarded it with a female pal but fell to his death seconds later.

Major Christian Crueize, of the Modane mountain rescue service, said: “The friend thought he was joking around. In fact he was suffering a heart attack.”

The accomplished sailor, from Falmouth, Cornwall, was staying in the ski resort of Méribel, where race ace Michael Schumacher was almost killed five years ago.

Jeff spent 40 years helping to run the International Laser Class Association and was described as “a cornerstone” of the sport.