Eight passengers are killed and two children airlifted to hospital as mountaintop cable car carrying 11 plunges 4,900ft to the ground in northern Italy
- Cable car fell near summit of the Stresa-Mottarone line in the Piedmont region
- Alpine rescue service said another three people taken to hospital on May 23
- Reported 11 people were on board the cable car at the time including children
Eight people have died after a mountaintop cable car plunged to the ground in northern Italy, as two children are airlifted to hospital.
The cable car fell near the summit of the Stresa-Mottarone line in the Piedmont region on May 23.
Italy’s Alpine rescue service have said another three people have been taken to hospital and two are seriously injured.
Five people have died after a mountaintop cable car, reportedly carrying eleven people, plunged to the ground in northern Italy (stock image)
It is reported that 11 people were on board the cable car at the time according to Sky News.
‘It is a very serious accident,’ Walter Milan, a spokesman for the national alpine rescue service told RaiNews24 television.
The rescue call arrived just after midday and the cable car had fallen from very high and was now sitting, ‘crumpled’ in the woods below, Milan added.
He noted that the cable line had been renovated in 2016 and had only recently reopened after coronavirus lockdowns forced the closures of ski lifts across Italy.
According to newspaper Corriere Della Serra, two children have been taken by air ambulance to hospital in Turin.
The accident, which occurred around 300 metres from the summit, may have been caused by a broken cable at the top of the system, the ANSA news agency said.
Alpine rescue service spokesman Walter Milan said that the car was ‘very high off the ground’ and another three people have been taken to hospital
The newspaper also said that rescue efforts have been made more difficult by the fact that the cabin fell into a wood in an inaccessible area.
According to Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire service, emergency crews are currently working at the area.
They Tweeted: ‘A cabin of the cable car connecting Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone fell. There are people dead, the toll is provisional.
‘Teams #vigilidelfuoco at work. On the spot the helicopter of the Varese flight department’.
According to Vigili del Fuoco, the Italian fire service, teams are currently working at the area, including helicopters
The national alpine rescue service said on Twitter: ‘Serious accident on the Stresa- Mottarone cable car.
‘Alpine rescue, and other rescue teams on site. Two helicopter ambulances intervened.’
The Mottarone cable car reaches a height of 4,900 feet and takes tourists from the town of Stresa, to the top of the mountain, in 20 minutes.
Mount Mottarone is considered a ‘natural balcony’ and boasts panoramic views across the Po Valley to the Alps.
Seven lakes are visible from the summit, which is a 15 minute walk from the cable car station, they include Lake Maggiore, Italy’s second largest, Lake Orta and Lake Mergozzo.
The area became popular in the early 1900’s when the area opened up for skiing and winter sports.
Since it has seen many people go to enjoy scenic walks, including the Mottarone Alpino Stressa route, a four hour walk from the top of Mottarone which is reached by cable car.
Under a traffic light system, British holidaymakers can travel to a small list of 12 green list countries – including Portugal – without having to quarantine on their return.
Italy is currently on the Amber list which requires them to quarantine for 14 days at home upon return, but they avoid the expensive hotel quarantine required for people visiting red list states.