Two Britons among four dead in Monte Faito cable car crash near Naples
Two British people are reported to be among four killed after a cable car crashed near Naples in Italy.
The cable broke on the machine linking the town of Castellammare di Stabia to Mount Faito, 1.8miles (3km) apart, bringing both the upward and downward cable cars to a halt.
One of the people killed was an Italian employee of the cable car company named as Carmine Parlato, 59, and the fourth was an Israeli tourist, the La Stampa newspaper reports.
Metro has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for comment.
The accident occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season.
It had been over a steep drop when the cable snapped, and poor weather, including mist, prevented rapid access by rescue services.
‘Four dead bodies were found and a fifth injured person was rescued and taken to hospital,’ a spokesperson for the local fire service said on Telegram.
‘The cabin at the top has crashed,’ Umberto De Gregorio, chairman of the EAV public transport company which runs the cable car service, wrote on Facebook, calling it ‘a tragedy’.
Rescuers at work near the site of the Monte Faito cable car crash that claimed four lives and injured one person (Picture: Antonio Balasco/LiveMedia/Shutte)
The upward-facing cable car crashed to the ground, and since then Italy’s alpine rescue team along with police and firefighters have been investigating.
Castellammare mayor Luigi Vicinanza said: ‘The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station.’
There were eight tourists and an operator rescued one-by-one with harnesses after downward-facing cabin stopped in midair near the foot of the mountain.
Emergency workers are still at the crash site (Picture: Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse/Shu)
Video captured the moment one occupant was lowered out of the cable car and towards the ground.
The cable car, which is popular with tourists thanks to its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, only reopened for the tourist season last week.
Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences for the victims and their families and said she was in touch with rescuers.
She was in Washington DC where she met with US President Donald Trump.
Politics Editor
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