The gondola of a cable car at Lake Maggiore falls, 14 people die. The sole survivor is now conscious again.
Update from Friday, May 28th, 2021, 9:37 a.m.: After the cable car crash in northern Italy with 14 deaths, the Israeli boy, who was the only one who survived, is doing a little better. The five-year-old is now “awake and conscious” in the intensive care unit, said the children’s hospital in Turin, where he is being treated. Little Eitan also spoke to his aunt, reports the German press agency.
The boy’s parents and brother did not survive the cable car crash in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. He was badly injured himself. From a clinical point of view, his condition is still serious, it said. The boy could leave the intensive care unit in the coming days.
Cable car crash in Italy: boss and employees arrested
The cable car had an accident on Whitsunday on the way from Stresa on Lake Maggiore up to Monte Mottarone. According to the current state of investigation, shortly before the arrival at the mountain station at a good 1,300 meters above sea level, the pulling rope broke for a previously unknown cause. In that case, an emergency brake should have applied, which did not happen. The gondola sped down at high speed, overturned, and finally smashed.
Fatal cable car crash in Italy – suspects admit manipulation
+++ 11.20 a.m.: According to several Italian media, all three arrested have made confessions to have manipulated the cable car. “They confessed that they manipulated the emergency brake,” the Italian broadcaster RAI 3 quotes an investigator. And further: “There were disruptions in the cable car. Maintenance was switched on, it did not solve the problem or only partially solved it. In order to avoid further business interruptions, it was decided to leave the ‘fork’ in place, which means that the emergency brake cannot work. “
Cable car crash in Italy: three employees arrested
Update from Wednesday, May 26th, 2021, 8.45 a.m.: After the cable car crash in Italy, the police arrested three employees of the operating company, including a manager. According to the investigators, it was found that the safety braking system of the cable car had been “manipulated”. This is reported by the Italian news agency Ansa, citing the authorities.
The manipulation was done in order to avoid delays in the cable car operation, emphasized Olimpia Bossi, investigating prosecutor. On Tuesday (May 25th, 2021) the public prosecutor’s office confiscated a video from the surveillance camera showing the accident. It was said that a rope suddenly broke and the cabin of the gondola fell downhill. 14 people died out of 15 inmates. Only a five-year-old boy survived the accident.
+++ 12.50 p.m.: One day after the cable car accident, the Italian Minister of Infrastructure Enrico Giovannini and the head of the civil protection authority sat down at the Stresa accident site. The government wants to understand the causes and what happened, Giovannini told the media on Monday in Piedmont, northern Italy. It would explain why the gondola that drove between Stresa and Monte Mottarone crashed. A commission supported the investigation of the responsible public prosecutor in Verbania. According to media reports, this investigated for negligent homicide.
Cable car crash in Italy: Five Israeli citizens: died inside
+++ 07:48 am: When the cable car crashed in northern Italy, five Israeli citizens were also killed. This has been confirmed by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The Foreign Ministry announced in Jerusalem on Monday that they were members of a family. A married couple and their two-year-old son who lived and worked in Italy were killed in the accident. A five-year-old son of the couple was seriously injured and is being treated in a hospital. The woman’s grandparents, who were visiting Italy, also died in the crash.
Update from Monday, May 24th, 2021, 05:44 a.m.: After the fatal crash of a cable car in northern Italy, the search for the cause of the accident continues. The public prosecutor of the Verbania municipality in the Piedmont region took over the investigation. The gondola with the excursionists fell on Sunday near Stresa, west of Lake Maggiore, for an initially unexplained cause. 14 people lost their lives, as the mountain rescuers had announced. The Mayor of Stresa spoke on Rainews 24 of children among the fatalities.
Cable car crash in Italy: 14 people die – child among the fatalities
+++ 9:26 p.m.: Sad Pentecost Sunday in Italy: In a cable car crash on Lake Maggiore in the north of the country, the number of fatalities increased to 14. Among them was a nine-year-old child who died hours after the accident in Turin hospital, his serious injuries, as the ambulance service announced in the evening. Another child was treated accordingly in the hospital. The cable car cabin with its 15 occupants crashed on the way to Mount Mottarone. According to media reports, Germans were among the victims.
Cable car crash in Italy: According to the media, Germans were among the victims.
+++ 6:04 p.m.: According to media reports, there are also German tourists among the victims. The cable car cabin with its 15 occupants crashed on the way to Mount Mottarone at noon. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. around a hundred meters from the mountain station of the cable car. It suspected that the cause was a cable tear in the uppermost area of the line. Overloading the cabin seems impossible as it can accommodate up to 35 passengers. Minister Enrico Giovannini announced the establishment of a commission of inquiry.
+++ 17:27: When the gondola crashed on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, 13 people lost their lives on Sunday. According to the mountain rescue service, two children were flown with rescue helicopters to a clinic in Turin in Piedmont. Her condition was critical, it was said that afternoon.
Why the gondola crashed was initially unclear and is being investigated. Pictures of the fire brigade and the police showed the completely dented cabin on a steep slope in a forest. The rescuers said the area was difficult to access. According to agency reports, the crash site was not far from the mountain station.
Cable car accident in Italy: number of deaths increases
+++ 16:24: The death toll in the cable car accident in northern Italy has risen to twelve. The mountain rescue announced on Sunday the German press agency on request.
+++ 4:06 p.m.: According to rescue workers, nine people died in a cable car accident in northern Italy. How the crash came about is still unclear. According to media reports, the gondola crashed not far from the station. According to the Ansa news agency, the cable car was overhauled from 2014 to 2016.
Liguria’s regional president Giovanni Toti expressed his condolences to the people of Piedmont. The tragedy puts you in mourning – on a Sunday that should actually stand for hope, wrote EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni on Twitter. The party leader of the right-wing Lega party, Matteo Salvini, wrote that there are no words for it.
The area around Lake Maggiore is popular with holidaymakers. The cable cars in Italy have only been allowed to start operating again since Saturday. This was recently decided by Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government in the course of easing the corona restrictions.
Italy: dead in cable car accident
+++ 2.47 p.m.: When a cable car crashed on Lake Maggiore in Italy, eight people were killed on Sunday. Two other people were seriously injured and brought to the children’s hospital in Turin, a spokesman for the emergency services has now confirmed. A total of eleven people were in the cable car when it crashed on the route to Mount Mottarone.
The cable car, popular with tourists, connects the holiday resort of Stresa on Lake Maggiore with the almost 1,500 meter high mountain, which offers a spectacular view of the Alps, in 20 minutes. The accident occurred around 300 meters from the summit. According to the Italian news agency Ansa, the cabin crash was probably caused by a cable tear in the uppermost part of the route.
First report from Sunday, May 23rd, 2021, 2:21 p.m .: Stresa – A serious accident occurred in Italy on Sunday afternoon (May 23rd, 2021). According to initial media reports, a cable car with at least eleven passengers crashed near Lake Maggiore. The local mountain rescue announced. As photos from the scene of the accident show, the accident occurred in a wooded area.
As the AFP news agency reports, at least eight people were killed. According to the Italian newspaper La Stampa, two children were taken to hospital.
The cause of the accident is still unclear. According to media reports, the cable car did not open again until April 24th. More soon. (tu / sot / acg with afp and dpa)
Rubriklistenbild: © Fire Brigade / dpa
