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Tragic Cable Car Crash in Southern Italy Claims Four Lives
A cable car accident near Naples, Italy resulted in the tragic deaths of four individuals, including a British woman and her brother. The incident occurred on a Thursday at Monte Faito, a popular peak located approximately 28 miles (45 km) southeast of Naples.
Authorities in Torre Annunziata have initiated an investigation into possible manslaughter charges following the crash. Reports indicate that the victims were identified as 58-year-old Margaret Elaine Winn and her 65-year-old brother Graeme Derek Winn, according to the Italian news agency Ansa. The other casualties included a 25-year-old woman, Janan Suliman, who held Israeli citizenship. Her brother, 23-year-old Thaeb Suliman, sustained severe injuries and was hospitalized in Ponticelli, where he is currently in stable condition but requires further medical evaluation.
At the time of the incident, the cable car service operated two cabins. The one that crashed was en route up the mountain, while the other cabin, carrying 16 passengers, was evacuated after it became stranded mid-air near the mountain’s base. Rescue operations were captured on footage broadcast by RAI public television, showing the careful retrieval of passengers using harnesses.
Initial investigations suggest that a supporting cable may have snapped, leading to the crash. Although the cable car service had recently opened for the spring and summer season, reports indicate that a maintenance check took place just a week prior to the tragedy.
Umberto De Gregorio, the chair of EAV, the public transport company that oversees the cable car, expressed his sorrow on Facebook, labeling the situation as a “tragedy.” Further complicating rescue efforts were adverse weather conditions, including fog and strong winds that reached speeds of up to 60 mph (100 km/h) on the day of the accident. Vincenzo De Luca, the president of the Campania region, remarked on the severe weather and emphasized the importance of rigorous technical checks for cable car safety.
Witnesses described hearing a loud bang immediately before the cable car’s fall, contributing to fears regarding the safety measures in place. De Luca noted the perilous conditions at such altitudes, which heightened the dangers surrounding rescue operations.
This latest incident echoes a prior cable car disaster in Italy from 2021, where 14 people lost their lives when a cable car that connected the Stresa resort to the Mottarone mountain crashed into a wooded area near Lake Maggiore.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was attending a summit in Washington, D.C., when she was informed of the crash, extended her “deepest condolences” to the families affected by this tragic event. Established in 1952, the Faito cable car service has a history that is not without accidents; a noted incident in 1960 resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including a child, due to a pylon failure.
Source
www.theguardian.com