Last modified on Mon 24 May 2021 15.01 EDT
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wo Sundays before fourteen people fell to their deaths in Italyâs worst cable car disaster in more than 20 years, hundreds of marathon runners had raced up a mountain path behind Lake Maggiore. After reaching the summit of Monte Mottarone, they made their way back down in cable cars, departing every 20 minutes for the return to the lakeside resort of Stresa below.
âItâs difficult to believe that just two weeks ago so many people â maybe 800 â ran up the mountain and all came down safely by cable car,â said Rinaldo Piraccini, who was sitting outside LâIdrovolante, a bar and restaurant next to the entrance of the funicular, with his friend Daniele Sacchi on Monday afternoon.
Italian cable car accident kills 14
‘ENORMOUS TRAGEDY’: The 20-minute cable car ride, popular with tourists, links Stresa with the summit of the Mottarone and offers spectacular views of the Alps
AFP, ROME
Fourteen people died on Sunday when a cable car slammed into the side of a mountain in northern Italy, emergency services said.
An Israeli couple living in Italy died along with one child, while their five-year-old was fighting for his life with brain trauma and broken legs, the Italian Alpine Rescue Service said.
A nine-year-old Italian child was also among the dead, it said, adding that the toll could rise further from the accident in Stresa, a resort town on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont region.
Details emerged Monday about the 14 people who died when a cable car crashed into the side of a mountain in northern Italy amid fears that the death toll will rise further.
An Israeli couple living in Italy died along with one child, while their five-year-old was fighting for his life with brain trauma and broken legs, according to the Alpine rescue service.
A nine-year-old Italian child was also among the dead, it said, adding that the toll could rise further from the accident in Stresa, a resort town on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Italy s Piedmont region, it said.
Cable and Brake Failure Caused Cable Car Crash in Italy, Investigators Say
Charges including manslaughter and negligence are being considered following the accident in northern Italy that killed 14 people on Sunday.
Emergency workers examining the wreckage of a cable car that fell on Sunday near Stresa, Italy. Credit.Piedmont Regional Helicopter Rescue Service
May 24, 2021Updated 3:23 p.m. ET
STRESA, Italy The crash of a cable car near picturesque Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, killing 14 people, occurred after a cable snapped and an emergency brake failed, investigators said Monday.
The cable car had almost reached the end station on Mottarone mountain, a nearly 5,000-foot peak, on Sunday afternoon when it suddenly started sliding backward. It slid for hundreds of meters at a height of nearly 40 feet, hitting a pillar and plunging to the ground. There was only one survivor, a 5-year-old boy.