Rome, Apr 19: Four people died and another was injured Thursday, when a cable car fell near the southern Italian coastal city of Naples, firefighters said.A cable broke on the link taking tourists from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, on the Gulf of Naples, to Mount Faito, about three kilometers (1.8 miles) away, reports said.
Four lifeless bodies were found, while a fifth injured person was rescued and taken to hospital,” the fire department said in a Telegram post, adding that this was a final toll.
Over 50 firefighters took part in rescue efforts.
One cabin carrying 16 passengers was close to Castellammare and they were put down on firm ground. A second second cabin was above a precipice on Mount Faito and fog delayed the rescue effort, media reports said.
The cable car had just reopened for the summer season and prosecutors said they have launched an investigation into the accident.
“The cable-car reopened 10 days ago with all the required safety conditions,” said Umberto de Gregorio, head of the cable car company.
“What happened today is an unimaginable, unforseeable tragedy,” he added.
Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who was on a trip to Washington, expressed “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims, her office said.
The cable car has been operating since 1952 and a similar accident in 1960 also left four dead.
In May 2021, a cable car crashed in the Italian Alps near Lake Maggiore, killing 14 people. In 1998, a US fighter jet flying a low level on a training flight cut a steel cable and 20 people in a cable car in the Dolomites were killed.