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.