A mountaintop cable car plunged to the ground in northern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 13 people and sending two children to the hospital, authorities said.
The plunge on the Stresa-Mottarone line happened about 100 metres before the final py
lon, in a spot where the cables were particularly high, said Walter Milan, a spokesman for Italy’s Alpine rescue service.
Mr Milan said the cable line had been renovated in 2016 and had only recently reopened after coronavirus lockdowns in Italy curtailed travel and forced the suspension of many leisure activities. He said families might have been flocking to the mountain due to sunny weather after months of restrictions.
The line is popular with tourists and locals hoping to scale Mottarone, which reaches 1,491 metres and overlooks the surrounding Alps of Italy’s Piedmont region.