9 dead after cable car plunges in Italian Alps, children among injured passengers

The incident happened on Sunday in the Italian Alps on the cableway line which connects the commune of Stresa near Lake Maggiore with the top of Mount Mottarone.

A car which was carrying 11 people fell near a pylon in one of the highest points of the cableway close to the summit. The disaster occurred due to a cable failure, preliminary reports indicate.

The car fell from a “relatively high point,” an alpine rescue service spokesman, Walter Milan, told Italy’s Rai News broadcaster, adding that the cable car appears to be “completely crumpled” and almost “destroyed,” indicating that the impact “was obviously significant.”

CNSAS, the Italian alpine rescue service, said two air ambulances were among the vehicles dispatched to the site of the incident. They airlifted to a hospital in Turin two children who were injured after the fall.

Italy’s Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini called the incident a “truly terrible tragedy” and said that he already contacted local authorities and the rescue services.

The place where the tragedy happened is a popular tourist destination during both summer and winter. The cableway started operating in the 1960s and underwent an upgrade several years ago, restarting after a pause in 2016. The cable car can accommodate up to 40 passengers.

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