Four people were killed and one severely injured when their cable car plunged into a ravine in Italy on Thursday, local authorities said.
The accident happened after a cable on the Monte Faito cableway near Sorrento snapped in severe weather, according to Vincenzo De Luca, the president of the Campania region in southern Italy.
Witnesses on the ground said the cable car plummeted into the valley below, hitting a pylon on the way down. It also reportedly hit a crane on a construction site.
De Luca said the car that fell had two couples and one worker from the cableway aboard.
One person survived the fall, according to Italy’s fire brigade, but was severely injured and air-lifted to a hospital in Naples.
The cableway, which reopened on April 10 after renovations, runs from Castellammare di Stabia between Naples and Sorrento some 1,092 meters to Monte Faito overlooking the bay of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius volcano.
There were no cable cars above the break, the fire brigade said.Strong winds hampered the rescue effort and it took first responders with helicopters working in extremely foggy conditions more than 90 minutes to locate the wreckage.
Foreign tourists and workers were among those rescued, De Luca said. An investigation into the incident has been opened by the local prosecutor’s office.
Italy’s President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa posted his condolences on social media. “I learn with deep sorrow of the tragedy that occurred on the Monte Faito cable car. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and I address a thought of gratitude to all the rescuers involved.”
Local rail stations that connect Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast to Naples were closed.