Tragedy in northern Italy: cable car fell and 13 people died

ROMA.- In a tragedy that caused great turmoil in Italy, this Sunday a cable car fell into the void and 13 people died. Two children are in serious condition. The accident happened near a popular tourist town on Lake Maggiore in the north of the country.

According to press sources, the incident, which occurred shortly before 1 p.m. (8 a.m. in Argentina), was due to a cable failure. Witnesses said a cabin collapsed near a tower at one of the highest points in the middle of the climb., 100 meters from the top of a mountain called Mottarone.

The cable car leaves from Stresa, a town that rises on the shores of the Piedmontese part of Lake Maggiore (Mayor) and reaches Mottarone, a mountain from which there is a famous panoramic viewpoint at almost 1,500 meters above sea level. . It is a popular destination for tourists both in summer and in winter, when some ski slopes are also in operation.

The funicular reopened on April 24, after the second containment and had undergone restructuring work in 2016. On this occasion, a magnetic particle inspection was carried out on the cables, a kind of x-ray, to check their condition. The cabins had been dismantled and reconditioned with an acoustic system and a video surveillance camera. This work had cost more than 4 million euros.

In the cabin that collapsed apparently 15 people were traveling (capacity is 40). Two children in very serious condition were taken by helicopter to a hospital in Turin.

“The cable car cabin fell from a relatively high point, over a forest. We see it totally destroyed, so the fall was obviously significant “says Walter Milan, rescuer of the Alpines, at the canal Rainews24.

The cable car usually leads from Lake Stresa to Mount Mottarone in 20 minutes; and it is divided into two parts: the first reaches 803 meters, where there is a famous botanical garden. The second reaches the belvedere at the top of Mottarone: it is just before the summit that the accident occurred.

As the newspaper reminds us The Republic, the newspaper The New York Times in 1954, he placed Mottarone among the ten most beautiful panoramas in the world, because of its view of the lake, the Borromean Islands and the chain of the Alps which surround the region; a place which is the goal of trekking, mountain biking and paragliding enthusiasts.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Stresa-Mottarone funicular carried around 100,000 passengers a year, the newspaper notes. The imprint.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi echoed the tragic accident and expressed the government’s condolences “to the families of the victims”, mentioning in particular the seriously injured children and their families.