Cable car accident kills at least 8 people in Italy

At least 8 people have died after a cable car plunged to the ground in the northern Italian city of Verbania, Report informs, citing DW.

Authorities said two children had been taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The plunge happened near the top of the Stresa-Mottarone line on Sunday morning.

"Serious accident on the Stresa-Mottarone cable car. Alpine rescue, and other rescue teams on site. Two helicopter ambulances intervened," the national alpine rescue service said on Twitter.

Images show debris from the crumpled cabin in a wooded area where a steep slope makes access difficult.

The accident happened around 300 meters from the summit, According to the Ansa news agency, it may have been caused by a broken cable.

Alpine rescue service spokesman Walter Milan said the ski lift cables were particularly high off the ground at the location of the accident.

"The cable car fell from a relatively high point and lay down on the ground at the foot of a large forest. Now it appears substantially destroyed on the ground… almost completely crumpled, so the fall was obviously significant," Milan told the Il Messaggero newspaper.

The cable line was renovated in 2016 and it had only recently reopened after coronavirus lockdowns.

The 20-minute cable car ride, popular with tourists, links the resort of Stresa with the 1,500-meter summit of the Mottarone mountain. The peak overlooks Lake Maggiore and offers spectacular views of the Alps.