ROME – A cable car taking visitors to the top of a mountain in some of northern Italy’s most picturesque lakes crashed to the ground Sunday and then rolled down the slope, killing 14 people. said the government.
Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino said it appeared that a cable broke, causing the car to hit a tower and then fall to the ground. At that point, the car rolled over “two or three times before hitting trees,” she said. those who died were expelled from the cabin.
The Italian government has announced the creation of a commission to investigate the disaster, which is likely to raise questions about the quality and protection of Italian shipping infrastructure.
The images showed the crumpled car in a thick pine slab clearing near Mottarone’s most sensitive peak overlooking Lake Maggiore. The car reportedly fell about 15 meters, according to Italian media.
“It’s a ghastly and ghastly scene,” Severino told SkyTG24 of Italy.
The dive on the Stresa-Mottarone line took place about 100 meters before the last pylon, said Walter Milan, spokesman for the Italian Alpine Rescue Service.
On Sunday night, the death toll had increased to 14 after one of the two young men was transferred to Regina Margherita Children’s Hospital in Turin. The boy died after several attempts to restart his center and “we could no longer do anything,” the hospital spokesman said. Pier Paolo Berra, the other young man, who arrived consciously at the hospital, was still in serious condition, the government said.
Milan noted that the cable line was renewed in 2016 and was recently reopened after coronavirus blockades in Italy reduced and forced the suspension of many recreational activities. Milan warned that many families would have flocked to the mountain on a sunny Sunday after months of restrictions.
The line is with tourists and locals to climb Mottarone, which reaches a height of 4900 feet and overlooks several picturesque lakes and the surrounding Alps of the Italian region of Piedmont.
The mountain houses a small amusement park, Alpyland, with rollers for children, and the domain also has trails and mountain biking.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented his condolences to the families of those affected “with a special idea for seriously injured youth and their families. “
Sunday’s tragedy appears to be the worst cable car crisis in Italy since 1998, when a low-altitude U. S. army plane cut the cable from a chairlift in Cavalese in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.
Italian Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini announced the creation of a commission to read about the tragedy and said he had already asked for knowledge about maintenance paintings and inspections carried out on the line in the past. He planned to visit the site on Monday.
Although the cause has not been determined, the crisis is likely to raise questions about Italy’s transport infrastructure. In 2018, the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed after years of neglect and killed 43 people.
In 2009, a derailed fuel loading exercise at Viareggio station near Lucca and exploded, killing 32 people. The poorly maintained axes of the exercise were blamed.
President Sergio Mattarella, offering his condolences for the “strict compliance with all protection standards” in transportation.