14 killed in Italy as cable car plunges into woodland
Officials said two survivors, children aged about five and nine, were airlifted to a hospital in Turin but the older child later died.
PRETORIA, May 24 (ANA) – Fourteen people including at least one child were killed in a cable car accident in northern Italy on Sunday, British public broadcaster BBC reported on Monday.
The accident happened on a service transporting passengers from the resort town of Stresa up the nearby Mottarone mountain in the region of Piedmont, the BBC wrote on its website.
It cited the Israeli foreign ministry as saying five of its nationals were among the dead. Most of the victims died at the crash site.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, the cable car was completing its 20-minute voyage, some 1,491 metres above sea level at the top of the mountain, when the cable broke 300 metres (984 feet) from the top of the mountain. The cable car then crashed into a wooded area with no direct road access.
United States news channel CNN said helicopters lowered alpine rescuers to the crash site and lifted out the victims. It said authorities believed 15 passengers were riding on the cable car at the time of the crash, including two children.
“One of the two children transported by helicopter to Turin hospital didn’t make it,” the National Alpine Speleological Rescue Corps wrote on Twitter.
The other child remained in a critical condition, CNN reported, citing the rescue group.
The news channel quoted Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi as expressing his sympathy to loved ones of the deceased in a statement.
“I learned with deep sorrow the news of the tragic accident of the Stresa-Mottarone cable car. I express the condolences on behalf of the whole government to the families of the victims, with a special thought for the children who were seriously injured and their families,” Draghi said.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
