Italy’s transport minister has ordered to start the investigation of the Sunday cable car crash on the Mottarone mountaintop overlooking picturesque Lake Maggiore. On Monday, the official has arrived at the scene of a tragic incident that killed 14 people.
The lead cable apparently snapped and the cabin careened back down the mountain until it pulled off the line and crashed to the ground, the experts suggest. The lone survivor of Sunday’s horrific incident, a 5-year-old Israeli boy living in Italy, remained hospitalized in Turin Monday with multiple broken bones.
Italian media identified all the other victims as Italians, while the Israeli foreign ministry identified a survivor boy as Eitan Biran. His parents and relatives were among the dead. The disaster, in one of the most picturesque spots in northern Italy, raised questions anew about the quality and safety of Italy’s transport infrastructure.
The funicular line is popular with tourists and locals alike to scale Mottarone, which reaches a height of 1,491 meters and overlooks several picturesque lakes and the surrounding Alps of Italy’s Piedmont region.
Investigation starts
Enrico Giovannini, transport minister, announced the start of the investigation aimed at finding the “technical and organizational causes” of the tragedy.
The prosecutors focused on any criminal blame while Giovannini arrived at the site Monday along with the civil protection chief to inspect the damage. The Israeli embassy is organizing the transportation of the bodies back to the native soil.
