Enlarge image
The crashed gondola in a forest
Photo: Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino / AFP
According to a report by the Italian news agency Ansa, the cable car tore about 300 meters from the mountain station, whereupon the gondola with the passengers crashed.
The scene of the accident is in an impassable forest area.
According to the mountain rescue service, nine people were killed in the accident.
Two seriously injured children were brought to a hospital in Turin by a rescue helicopter, the rescue workers reported.
Fire brigade and mountain rescue are on site.
The rescue measures are described as difficult due to the nature of the terrain.
The accident occurred above the resort of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore.
The mountain station of the cable car is 1491 meters above sea level on Monte Mottarone and is popular because of the view of the lake.
You can walk to the top of the mountain from the mountain station in around 15 minutes.
The journey from the valley to the mountain station usually takes around 20 minutes.
According to the Lift-World.info database, the cable car was shut down from 2014 to 2016, but has been in operation again since then.
Due to the corona pandemic, however, it was shut down again for a long time.
Operations resumed on April 24th.
According to Ansa, a total of eleven people were in the crashed cabin.
mak / AFP
