British couple died after ‘cable car brakes failed 20 seconds from top'

Independent

19-04-2025

A British couple died after a cable car wire in southern Italy snapped and the brakes failed when they were 20 seconds away from arriving at the top, it is believed.
Graeme Winn, 65, and Elaine Winn, 58, were among the four people who died in the crash on Thursday at Monte Faito in the town of Castellammare di Stabia near Naples, according to a spokesman for the local mayor's office.
The couple, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, were part of a local bikers group and visiting the country as tourists, it is understood.
An Israeli national and the Italian driver of the cable car also died and a fifth person was seriously injured in the incident, it was reported.
A spokesman for Luigi Vicinanza Sindaco, the mayor of Castellammare, told the PA news agency: 'The cable car that was descending and entering the station at the bottom stopped and the brakes switched on because there was something that wasn't working so it triggered the safety systems and it stopped.
'We are hypothesising that as the cable cars were moving at the same time. The one at the top was meant to arrive, (it) was around 20 to 25 seconds from the entrance of the station at the top, except the wire broke and the brake did not work because the cabin started to move backwards as it was on a slope.
'It went backwards and ended up on a pylon and it fell.
'It didn't fall perpendicular at 25 metres, it went a lot further back.
'The first thing that would've happened is that the wire snapped and then the brakes didn't work.
'At the moment it's all a hypothesis that the wire snapped and the brakes system did not start.'
Ten people had to be taken down from the other cable car, the spokesman said.
An investigation over multiple manslaughter and culpable disaster charges has been opened by Italian prosecutors, according to reports
The mayor said on Facebook there will be a day of mourning and all events for the Easter holiday cancelled.
Firefighters, police and Italy's alpine rescue were sent to the scene, which is between the popular tourist areas of Pompeii and Sorrento.
The EAV public transport firm, which runs the cable car, said the service had reopened a week ago with all required safety conditions.
Checks were being carried out by investigators on the cable car and the possibility that strong wind was among the causes of the incident.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences from Washington DC, where she was meeting US President Donald Trump.
A British tourist said she saw people being taken down from one cable car in a harness after the incident.
Megan Pacey, 50, from London, was with her husband, James Ross, and their children Hannah, 10, and Luke, eight, when they saw a suspended cable car.
She said: 'We were within a minute or two of (the incident) happening.
'They started winching people down from the cable car. We watched the first couple of people come down in a harness and as we left, there was a sense of urgency that had kicked in.'
She said she saw flowers and candles on the steps outside the railway station on Friday and emergency services remained at the scene.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: 'We are supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.'