Investigators were on Monday probing the causes of a horrific cable car crash in the Italian mountains that left 14 people dead and a 5-year-old child as the sole survivor.
"He is still under intensive care, intubated and sedated... Tomorrow, doctors will slowly try to wake him up and are cautiously optimistic," a spokesman for the Citta della Salute hospital in Turin told AFP.
The accident took place near the summit of the Mottarone mountain, a scenic location overlooking Lake Maggiore in the northwest region of Piedmont. A 9-year-old boy was also among the victims.
The cable car crashed to the ground after a cable broke, according to first reports, while several officials, including a member of the emergency services and a prosecutor, said the security brake failed to function.
"There are various aspects of this affair that will certainly be clarified," Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini said after visiting Stresa, the town at the base of the cable car. Prosecutors opened an investigation Sunday into potential charges of involuntary manslaughter, while a government-commissioned inquiry by technical experts was also under way.
Leitner, the company in charge of maintenance, said the brake system was last checked on May 3, while a simulated emergency, involving a cable breakage and the activation of the emergency brake, was successfully conducted in December 2020.
Several other tests and maintenance work was done in recent months.
In this handout photo provided by the Italian National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps, emergency workers surround the wreckage of a cable car that fell from the Stresa-Alpine-Mottarone line on Sunday in Stresa, Italy. Photo: VCG
The boy, who lost his parents, grandparents and 2-year-old sibling in Sunday's accident, was hospitalized in a critical condition, but there were hopes for his recovery."He is still under intensive care, intubated and sedated... Tomorrow, doctors will slowly try to wake him up and are cautiously optimistic," a spokesman for the Citta della Salute hospital in Turin told AFP.
The accident took place near the summit of the Mottarone mountain, a scenic location overlooking Lake Maggiore in the northwest region of Piedmont. A 9-year-old boy was also among the victims.
The cable car crashed to the ground after a cable broke, according to first reports, while several officials, including a member of the emergency services and a prosecutor, said the security brake failed to function.
"There are various aspects of this affair that will certainly be clarified," Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini said after visiting Stresa, the town at the base of the cable car. Prosecutors opened an investigation Sunday into potential charges of involuntary manslaughter, while a government-commissioned inquiry by technical experts was also under way.
Leitner, the company in charge of maintenance, said the brake system was last checked on May 3, while a simulated emergency, involving a cable breakage and the activation of the emergency brake, was successfully conducted in December 2020.
Several other tests and maintenance work was done in recent months.
