At least 12 people have died and two were seriously injured after a cable car fell near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy on Sunday, local authorities have said.
Emergency services believe 15 people were in the cable car at the time of the fall, to which rescuers were alerted shortly after 12:00 local time (6 a.m. ET).
Among them were two children, aged five and nine, who were taken to a hospital in Turin and said to be in serious condition, officials said.
No information had been released about anyone who avoided injury, at the time of publication.
Pictures from the scene, near the summit of the Mottarone peak overlooking the lake, showed the wreckage in a clearing of pine trees.
The site is about 100 meters (109 yards) before the final pilon, where the cables of the lift were particularly high off the ground, said Walter Milan, a spokesperson for the Alpine rescue service.
He said two people were seriously injured and described the cabin as "almost completely crumpled".
The cause has not yet been determined, although Corriere della Sera reports said that the fall was caused by a rope failure.
The cable car, which originally opened in 1970, reopened on April 24, 2021, after undergoing renovation works between 2014 and 2016, according to the Milan-based newspaper.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the families of the victims "with a particular thought about the seriously injured children and their families."
The Stresa-Mottarone cable car line frequently transports people from Stresa, a resort town in the Piedmont region, to a mountain at about 1,500 meters above sea level.
According to the Associated Press, the 20-minute cable car climb is used to climb most of the mountain, with a chairlift then used to reach a small amusement park, Alpyland, further up that has a children's rollercoaster offering 360-degree views.
The crash was first confirmed by the Vigili del Fuoco, Italy's agency for fire and rescue services, which tweeted a photograph showing the crash site.
"A cabin of the cable car connecting Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone fell. There are people dead, the toll is provisional," it captioned the picture.
The crash comes less than three years after the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed after years of neglect, killing 43 people. That tragedy in August 2018 sparked searching questions among Italian lawmakers about the country's infrastructure.
Update: 05/23/21, 11.38 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include new details of the accident and the higher number of fatalities.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
