Three people arrested over Italy cable car disaster that killed 14, including two kids – World News
Three people have been arrested in connection with a cable car disaster in northern Italy that killed 14 people, including two children, it is reported.
A five-year-old boy, Eitan Biran, was the only survivor when the gondola plunged 65ft as it travelled from the town of Stresa, on the shore of Lake Maggiore, to the nearby Mottarone mountain.
Eitan’s father, mother, two-year-old brother and great-grandparents were among those killed, along with a nine-year-old child and their family, an engaged couple and others.
Investigators had said their initial probe into Sunday afternoon’s tragedy would look into how the lead cable snapped and why a safety brake mechanism failed to activate.
(Image: Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty I)
Italian prosecutors opened an investigation into suspected involuntary manslaughter and negligence.
Initial reports said the cable that was pulling the cabin up the slope snapped as the gondola neared the end of its 20-minute journey to the top of the mountain.
The braking mechanism on a second wire that was bearing the weight of the cabin failed to engage and the gondola slid backwards before apparently hitting a pylon and tumbling to earth, where it rolled over before hitting trees.
(Image: Vigili del Fuoco/AFP via Getty I)
Most of the victims died at the scene, with bodies found inside the wreckage and some thrown into the woods.
Eitan suffered multiple broken bones and was airlifted to a hospital in Turin, where he was in a critical condition after undergoing surgery.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini visited the area on Monday and said the government would also set up a commission to look into Italy’s worst cable car disaster since 1998, when 20 people died after a low-flying US warplane accidentally cut through a supporting cable.
“The government, as well all the institutions, are naturally committed to understanding the causes, to understanding whathappened,” Giovannini told reporters.
The cable car underwent major maintenance work between 2014 and 2016.
Checks were carried out in 2017 and again last year by specialist technicians. Italian media reported that the wires were not due to be replaced until 2029.
The cabin could hold up to 40 people, but was less than half full because of restrictions to prevent Covid-19 infections.
The lift station had been closed much of the winter because of coronavirus and had reopened last month.
