Melodi
Disaster Cat
Last night Italy won the Eurovision contest and normally the nation would rejoicing but the death toll from the crash is up to nine and at least two children are in the hospital with serious injuries. I gather there is a children's playground at the top of this cable car ride, so I don't know how many of the deaths may have been children.
At least eight dead after cable car falls in Italy
Updated / Sunday, 23 May 2021 14:07
The lift had just recently reopened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions (Image: Vigili del Fuoco)
At least eight people have died and two are seriously injured, after a cable car connecting Italy's Lake Maggiore with a nearby mountain fell, emergency services said.
The Stresa-Mottarone cable car takes tourists and locals from the famous town of Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, up almost 1400 metres above sea level to the top of the Mottarone mountain in 20 minutes.
"It is a very serious accident," Walter Milan, a spokesman for the national alpine rescue service told RaiNews24television.
He said two children had been transported by helicopter to a paediatric hospital in the northern city of Turin.
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, Mr Milan added.
Italian news wire Ansa said the cable car was carrying 11 people before the accident.
The lift had just recently reopened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
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.
More to follow...
Italian cable car crash kills 14 people, injures child
At least 14 people died and a child was seriously injured today when a cable car linking Italy's Lake Maggiore with a nearby mountain plunged to the ground, officials and rescuers said.
www.rte.ie
Updated / Sunday, 23 May 2021 14:07
The lift had just recently reopened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions (Image: Vigili del Fuoco)
At least eight people have died and two are seriously injured, after a cable car connecting Italy's Lake Maggiore with a nearby mountain fell, emergency services said.
The Stresa-Mottarone cable car takes tourists and locals from the famous town of Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, up almost 1400 metres above sea level to the top of the Mottarone mountain in 20 minutes.
"It is a very serious accident," Walter Milan, a spokesman for the national alpine rescue service told RaiNews24television.
He said two children had been transported by helicopter to a paediatric hospital in the northern city of Turin.
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, Mr Milan added.
Italian news wire Ansa said the cable car was carrying 11 people before the accident.
The lift had just recently reopened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
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.
More to follow...