Latest news with #LuigiVicinanza
Gulf Today
20-04-2025
- Gulf Today
Four killed as cable car plunges into a ravine in Italy
Three tourists, including a British couple, were among four people who were killed when a mountain cable car plunged into a ravine south of Naples, officials confirmed Saturday. Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it is "supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.' On Friday, a day after the accident, a spokesperson for the mayor of Vico Equense had said that the pair were siblings, but confirmed Saturday that that was based on bad information. An Arab woman with Israeli citizenship was the third foreign victim to be identified following Thursday's accident. Rescuers reach for the smashed gondola of the Mt. Faito cable car near Naples in southern Italy. AP The fourth victim was the Italian driver of the cable car. A fifth tourist, said to be the brother of the Israeli victim, is in a stable but critical condition at a Naples hospital, officials said. Initial reports suggested that a traction cable may have snapped as the cable car ascended Monte Faito, in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The cable car plunged into a ravine after stopping very close to the station at the top of the peak, at around 1,050 meters (3,400 feet). Sixteen passengers were helped out of another cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident. The accident happened just a week after the cable car, which is popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. It averages around 110,000 visitors each year. The emergency services, including Italy's alpine rescue, more than 50 firefighters, police and civil protection personnel, worked into the evening in severe weather conditions, with fog and strong winds making rescue operations difficult. "The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station," Luigi Vicinanza, the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, said on Thursday. He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line, which runs 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the town to the top of the mountain. View of the Monte Faito cable car departure station in Castellammare di Stabia near Naples, southern Italy, Friday. AP Local prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter, which will involve an inspection of the cable stations, the pylons, the two cabins and the cable, officials said Friday. The company running the service, the EAV public transport firm, said the seasonal cable car had reopened with all the required safety conditions. "The reopening had taken place a week ago after three months of tests every day, day and night," said EAV President Umberto De Gregorio. "This is something inexplicable.' De Gregorio said technical experts believed there was no connection between the severe weather and the cause of the crash. "There is an automatic system. When the wind exceeds a certain level, the cable car stops automatically,' he said. The Monte Faito cable car opened in 1952. Four people died in 1960 when a pylon broke. Italy has recorded two similar fatal accidents involving cable cars in recent years. A cable car crash in May 2021 in northern Italy killed 14 people, including six Israelis, among them a family of four. In 1998, a low-flying US military jet cut through the cable of a ski lift in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people. Associated Press
Asharq Al-Awsat
19-04-2025
- Asharq Al-Awsat
3 Tourists among 4 Killed after Italian Cable Car Crashes into Ravine South of Naples
Three tourists, including a British couple, were among four people who were killed when a mountain cable car plunged into a ravine south of Naples, officials confirmed Saturday. Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it is "supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.' On Friday, a day after the accident, a spokesperson for the mayor of Vico Equense had said that the pair were siblings, but confirmed Saturday that that was based on bad information. An Israeli woman was the third foreign victim to be identified following Thursday's accident. The fourth victim was the Italian driver of the cable car. A fifth tourist, said to be the brother of the Israeli victim, is in a stable but critical condition at a Naples hospital, officials said, The AP news reported. Initial reports suggested that a traction cable may have snapped as the cable car ascended Monte Faito, in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The cable car plunged into a ravine after stopping very close to the station at the top of the peak, at around 1,050 meters (3,400 feet). Sixteen passengers were helped out of another cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident. The accident happened just a week after the cable car, which is popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. It averages around 110,000 visitors each year. The emergency services, including Italy's alpine rescue, more than 50 firefighters, police and civil protection personnel, worked into the evening in severe weather conditions, with fog and strong winds making rescue operations difficult. 'The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station," Luigi Vicinanza, the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, said on Thursday. He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line, which runs 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the town to the top of the mountain. Local prosecutors have opened an investigation into possible manslaughter, which will involve an inspection of the cable stations, the pylons, the two cabins and the cable, officials said Friday. The company running the service, the EAV public transport firm, said the seasonal cable car had reopened with all the required safety conditions. 'The reopening had taken place a week ago after three months of tests every day, day and night," said EAV President Umberto De Gregorio. "This is something inexplicable.' De Gregorio said technical experts believed there was no connection between the severe weather and the cause of the crash. "There is an automatic system. When the wind exceeds a certain level, the cable car stops automatically,' he said. The Monte Faito cable car opened in 1952. Four people died in 1960 when a pylon broke. Italy has recorded two similar fatal accidents involving cable cars in recent years. A cable car crash in May 2021 in northern Italy killed 14 people, including six Israelis, among them a family of four. In 1998, a low-flying US military jet cut through the cable of a ski lift in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.
CBC
18-04-2025
- CBC
Tourists among 4 killed in cable car crash south of Naples
Three tourists were among four people who died when a cable car crashed south of Naples, Italy, including a British and an Israeli woman, an Italian official said Friday. Only two of the three foreign victims have been identified since the accident on Thursday, said Marco De Rosa, the spokesperson for the mayor of Vico Equense, where one of the fatalities came from. According to initial information, a traction cable snapped and one car crashed after both an upward and a downward-going cable car came to a halt as they traversed Monte Faito in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The accident happened just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into multiple manslaughter and culpable disaster. A fifth person, who is also believed to be a foreign tourist, was seriously injured and hospitalized in Naples, officials said. Sixteen passengers were helped out of the other cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident. Italy's alpine rescue, along with more than 50 firefighters, police and civil protection services worked on the site all Thursday night. "The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station," Castellammare Mayor Luigi Vicinanza said Thursday. He added there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line, which runs three kilometres from the town to the top of the mountain. Firm says it met safety conditions The company running the service, the EAV public transport firm, stressed that the seasonal cable car had reopened with all the required safety conditions. "The reopening had taken place a week ago after three months of tests every day, day and night," said EAV president Umberto De Gregorio. "This is something inexplicable." Investigators were conducting checks on the functionality of the cable car and the possibility that strong wind in recent days was among the causes of the accident. A cable car crash in May 2021 in northern Italy killed 14 people, including six Israelis, among them a family of four. In 1998, a low-flying U.S. military jet cut through the cable of a ski lift in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.
The Hill
17-04-2025
- The Hill
Cable car accident in southern Italy kills at least 4 people
MILAN (AP) — A cable car carrying tourists south of Naples crashed to the ground Thursday after a cable snapped, killing at least four people and critically injuring one, officials said. The snapped cable brought both the upward and downward-going cable cars to a halt as they traversed Monte Faito in the town of Castellammare di Stabia. The upward cable car eventually crashed, causing the fatalities and injury, while eight tourists and an operator were evacuated from the downward cable car, Naples Prefect Michele de Bari said. 'The traction cable broke. The emergency brake downstream worked, but evidently not the one on the cabin that was entering the station,' said Castellammare Mayor Luigi Vicinanza. Italy's alpine rescue, along with firefighters, police and civil protection services responded to the accident. The accident occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences for the victims and their families and said she was in touch with rescuers. She was in Washington, D.C., where she met with U.S. President Donald Trump.
