Suddenly the rope broke: It was probably manipulation of the safety braking system that led to the accident.
Rome (AP) – After the arrests for alleged manipulation of the cable car at Monte Mottarone in northern Italy, the investigators have indications that the brake was deliberately deactivated.
There is a statement that a device has been deactivated to avoid interference, a carabiniere said on Italian television on Wednesday. They then made sure that the emergency brake did not work.
According to the police officer, the disturbance would otherwise have led to a slow process. “They wanted to keep the cable car in operation even when the problem was revealed.” The emergency brake was locked so that people could continue to be transported. This also led to the “dramatic coincidence” that the emergency brake did not work when one of the cables broke.
A total of 14 people lost their lives in the gondola crash in the Italian region of Piedmont west of Lake Maggiore on Sunday. Only a young boy from Israel survived the accident and was treated in a clinic in Turin on Wednesday.
Three people were arrested on Wednesday morning. According to media reports, these are employees of the cable car operator Ferrovie del Mottarone. Including a manager. Investigators had found that a safety braking system had been “manipulated” to avoid delays in cable car operations, the Ansa news agency quoted the investigating public prosecutor Olimpia Bossi as saying.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210526-99-743251 / 6
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