Near Naples, Italy, four people died and another was injured after the cable of a cable car broke, causing the fall of their cabin.
Drama in Italy. On the evening of Thursday, April 17, a cabin of a cable car with several people on board fell in the Naples region, leading to the death of several people, firefighters announced on Telegram. For the time being, an investigation has been opened by the local prosecutor’s office.
• Fall of a cable car dating from 1952
The accident occurred shortly after 3 p.m., following the breakdown of a cable, while a cabin with 16 passengers was very close to the city and the ground, while a second cabin was at Mont Faiso above a precipice.
The 16 passengers in the first cabin were all quickly rescued, but the bad weather and the fog at altitude prevented the passengers from the second quickly.
Firefighters now seek to safely put this cabin to prevent it from slipping towards the valley and does not cause other damage.
After the accident, a station near the premises was closed due to the interruption of the railway line, since the cable had fallen on the tracks. The municipal police ordered, as a precautionary measure, the closure of the panoramic road was also closed.
This cable car, inaugurated in 1952, had an accident in 1960, when a cabin fell on the ground causing the death of four people.
-• At least four dead and one injured
For the moment, at least four people have been killed: an Italy, two English, and a third Israeli national, according to the Italian media Corriere della Serra. One person was injured in the fall of this cabin of a cable car.
“Four lifeless bodies were found while a fifth injured person was rescued and transported to the hospital,” said the firefighters, adding that “more than 50” of them participated in the rescue operations.
• Meloni expresses its condolences to families
Many political leaders have expressed their sadness following this tragedy, notably the Italian president Giorgia Meloni.
On the road to Washington where she met the evening earlier, President Donald Trump, she wished to “express on behalf of the Italian government and on her personal name, her proximity and her sincere condolences to the families of the victims and the injured”, according to a statement from her services.
“The cable car has reopened 10 days ago with all the security conditions required by the regulations. What happened today is an unimaginable, unpredictable tragedy, on which it will of course be clarified,” said Umberto de Gregorio, the president of the cable car manager.
“I express my most sincere condolences, on behalf of the Metropolitan City of Naples and in my own name, for the victims of the tragedy” said the mayor of the city of Naples, Gaetano Manfred.
