Italy cable car witnesses describe horror when it tumbled 500m down mountain killing 14 after ‘accelerating backwards’
Updated: May 24 2021, 9:00 ET
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A CABLE car accelerated backwards before it plummeted 500 metres down an Italian mountain side, witnesses have said.
The tragedy has claimed the lives of 14 people, including a family of five, after the gondola fell near a mountain summit.
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At least 14 people have died in the accidentCredit: AFP
A huge rescue mission was launched following Sunday morning s horror accident in Mottarone, northern Italy.
Local mayor Marcella Severino recalled witnesses describing what they saw unfold. They heard a loud bang and saw the cable car just before the summit and then it accelerated backwards, struck a support pillar and fell, she said.
Italy officials launch manslaughter investigation after 14 killed in cable car disaster
Italian investigators have launched a multiple manslaughter investigation after 14 people were killed in a cable car accident in northern Italy, prosecutors said Monday.
A group was riding in a Stresa-Mottarone cable car from the Lido di Stresa piazza on Lake Maggiore to the nearby Mottarone mountain in the Piedmont region when a cable snapped, a spokesperson for the National Alpine Speleological Rescue Corps initially said Sunday.
The car was completing its 20-minute voyage, some 1,491 meters (4,891 feet) above sea level at the top of the mountain, when the cable broke 300 meters (984 feet) from the top of the mountain, according to Italian news agency ANSA. The car then crashed into a wooded area with no direct road access.