05/23/2021 1:14 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/23/2021 1:17 PM
The fall of a cable car cabin in Stresa, a seaside resort on Lake Maggiore in Piedmont (north),
caused the death of 13 people this Sunday
, according to a balance presented as final by the rescue services.
"The final balance of the tragic accident is 13 dead and
two seriously injured
, transported by helicopter to Turin", indicated the rescue services.
The two seriously injured are two boys aged nine and five.
According to the newspaper
Il Corriere della Sera,
German tourists are among the victims.
The information was not confirmed from an official source.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi expressed his "deep pain" in a statement.
Rescuers at the scene of the accident.
AP Photo
The accident occurred around 12.30 (10.30 GMT)
100 meters from the last height station of the cable car,
according to a statement from the Ministry of Infrastructure.
It could be due to a cable break, causing the cabin to fall.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Enrico Giovanni, announced the creation of an investigation commission.
"It is a dramatic fact that we evaluate with the greatest attention," he
said.
The president of the Piedmont region declared himself
"devastated
.
"
"It is a huge tragedy that takes our breath away" reacted Alberto Cirio.
Images from the authorities show firefighters and police around the remains of the cabin
in a wooded area
whose steep slope makes access difficult.
The accident occurred around 12.30 (10.30 GMT) 100 meters from the last height station of the cable car.
Reuters photo
The popular tourist cable car connects the town of Stresa with Mount Mottarone in 20 minutes, which culminates at almost 1,500 meters and offers a spectacular view of the Alps and Lake Maggiore.
The cable car was closed between 2014 and 2016 for maintenance work.
Lake Maggiore, between Switzerland and Italy, is one of the most popular destinations for Italian and foreign tourists.
The president of Liguria, a neighboring region of Piemonte, lamented
an "absurd tragedy"
that occurred at a time when Italy was taking advantage of the lack of refinement after months of sanitary restrictions.
"A reopening Sunday that should have been a bearer of hope" underlined Giovanni Toti.
Images from the authorities show firefighters and police around the remains of the cabin in a wooded area whose steep slope makes access difficult.
AFP photo
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, expressed on Twitter, in a message in Italian, his "
most sincere condolences
to the families and friends who have lost loved ones in this tragic accident."
Several fatal cable car
, gondola or funicular
accidents
have occurred in the last 50 years in Europe.
The latest dates back to September 5, 2005, when
an 800-kilogram block of concrete fell off
the helicopter carrying it and fell onto a cable car near Solden in Austrian Tyrol, killing nine German skiers.
In Italy, on February 3, 1998, a US military plane cut the cable of a cable car in Cavalese, a ski resort in the Dolomites, killing all 20 passengers in the cabin.
Also in Cavalese, but more than 20 years earlier, in 1976, a cable break had caused a cabin to fall
, leaving 42 dead.
Source: AFP and ANSA
PB