ROME (AP) – A cable car that took visitors to the ultimate mountain feel in some of northern Italy’s most picturesque lakes sank into the ground on Sunday, killing at least 12 other people and sending two young men to the hospital, the government said.
Rescue teams proceeded to seek dominance amid imaginable indications that a fifteenth user would possibly have been on the cable car, said Walter Milan, spokesman for the Italian Alpine Rescue Service. The scene of the rubble showed the crushed and wrinkled remains of the cable car in a clearing of a thick plot of pine trees near Mottarone’s most sensitive peak overlooking Lake Maggiore.
Here, about a hundred meters (yards) before the final mortar, the elevator cables were on the ground, said Walter Milan, spokesman for the Alpine Rescue Service. The cause has not been determined.
Milan noted that the cable line had been renovated in 2016 and had recently reopened after closures opposed to coronaviruses forced the closure of lifts throughout Italy.
Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in the area, and Milan speculated that families were taking advantage of the time to enjoy a day in nature after months of blockade. Italy reopened only a few weeks ago, allowing between regions after a winter of COVID. 19 restrictions.
Mottarone reaches a height of 1,491 meters (4900 feet) and dominates several picturesque lakes and the surrounding Alps of the Italian Piedmont region. Milan said a total of 15 other people were on the cable car at the time, the exact number is not secure. Both young men were in serious condition and were transferred to a hospital in Turin, Milan said.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented his condolences to the families of those affected “with a special idea for seriously injured youth and their families. “
The maximum sensitivity of the mountain from the base to the lakeside includes a cable car to climb the maximum of the road, then a chairlift to succeed in a small amusement park, Alpyland, up with curls for the little ones that provide a 360-degree view. landscape.
The site offers trails and trails for mountain motorcycles, as is not unusual in many Italian mountainous regions that are popular with tourists and locals in spring and summer.
The Stresa-Mottarone cable car line foreshadows a 20-minute scenic mountain adventure from its lakeside base, providing insights into a total of seven lakes at the top.
It 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 tracks the rescue effort, which concerned the deployment of 3 helicopters on the mountainside.
Although the cause has been determined, this is the most recent incident raising doubts about the quality of Italy’s transport infrastructure. In 2018, the Morandi Bridge in Genoa collapsed after years of neglect, killing 43 people.