At least 13 people died and two children, ages 9 and 5, ended up in hospital in critical condition after a cabin fell from a cable car from the top of a mountain in northern Italy on Sunday, authorities reported.
The crash happened in the vicinity of the town of Stresa, near the border with Switzerland.
There were about 15 people on the cable car
(although the exact number is not yet known)
;
the two minors were transferred to a center in the city of Turin.
The child under 5 years old suffered a trauma to the skull, another to the abdomen and fractures in the lower extremities.
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, he was conscious.
The 9-year-old boy has already been resuscitated and is undergoing a CT scan.
Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino said a cable appeared to have snapped, causing the cabin to fly off before falling to the ground.
It flipped "two or three times before hitting some trees," he said.
Some of the deceased flew out of the cabin.
A photo of the wreckage taken by Italian firefighters showed the crushed wreckage of the cable car near a pine forest near the top of the Mottarone peak, overlooking Lake Maggiore.
The cable car, which covered the route from this lake to that mountain, was 300 meters from the arrival station, which is more than 1,400 meters (4,500 feet) high.
The accident was caused by a
failure in the cable in the highest part of the route
, which was located on a wooded area with difficult access, which complicated the rescue work, the Italian agency reported.
The cable car that collapsed near Stresa, near Lake Maggiore, Italy May 23, 2021. ALPINE RESCUE SERVICE / via REUTERS
The cabin fell around 1:00 pm (local time) from one of the highest points of the cable car.
Alpine relief teams and the Carabinieri are in the area.
At that location,
the cable car cables were especially high off the ground
, said Walter Milan, a spokesman for the Alpine Rescue Service.
"It is a very serious accident
,
" he
said.
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Milan noted that the cable line had been renewed in 2016 and had recently reopened after coronavirus lockdowns forced cable cars across Italy to close.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the families of the victims, especially "seriously injured children and their families."
Mottarone stands 1,491 meters tall and overlooks the picturesque lake and surrounding Alps of Italy's Piedmont region.
The mountain has a small amusement park, Alpyland, which has a children's roller coaster that offers 360-degree views of the landscape.
The cabin of the cable car that fell near Lake Maggiore, Italy, on Sunday, May 23, 2021. ALPINE RESCUE SERVICE / via REUTERS
Many Italian ski areas have mountain bike paths and hiking trails that are very popular in spring and summer.
It is believed to be the worst cable car accident in Italy since 1998, when a low-flying US military plane cut one cable at Cavalese, in the Dolomites ski resort, killing 20 people.
With information from AP, El País and Ansa.