The wagon was placed 20 meters above the ground when it detached from the cable and rolled several times down the steep mountainside. Eventually, the detached tow truck met trees on the road and slowed down.
The popular tourist route in Stresa-Mottarone in northern Italy had recently reopened after being shut down due to the coronavirus.
People who were walking nearby heard a loud hiss just before the crash. Mayor of Stresa Marcella Severino assumes that the accident was caused by one of the cables breaking.
Earlier, 13 were confirmed dead after the incident, where two children aged five and nine were flown to a local hospital. The oldest of them was in critical health. On Sunday evening, the hospital announced that the person had died after two cardiac arrests, writes Reuters.
Rescuers are working on the wrecks of the cable car after it collapsed 20 meters from the ground.
Photo: AP
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When the rescue services arrived on the scene, several were trapped inside the carriage, while others had ended up in the forest. The victims are being identified. So far, it has been confirmed that several of them are foreign nationals.
– Tragic accident
The accident happened near the top of the 1491 meter high mountain Mottarone, located on Lake Maggiore. Mayor Marcella Severino hardly believes what has happened, and states that maintenance work has been carried out on the attraction. The cable car was closed between 2014 and 2016 to be upgraded.
Council of Europe President Charles Michel expressed his support for the injured and relatives on Twitter.
– Condolences so much to the families and friends who have lost their loved ones in this tragic accident. Europe is in mourning with you, he wrote in Italian.
The carriage was almost at the terminus when it fell from a point many meters above the ground. It crashed in a rugged area that is said to have made the salvage work demanding.
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