A cable car carrying visitors to a northern Italy mountaintop view crashed down a slope on Sunday, killing at least 13 people.
A cable along the mountain reportedly broke, which sent the car falling down near the summit of the Mottarone mountain until it hit a pylon. The car then overturned two or three times before hitting some trees, Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino said.
“It was a terrible, terrible scene,” Severino told Italy’s SkyTG24.
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Some who died were thrown from the car. Two children remain in serious condition in nearby hospitals. A third person was injured in the crash.
Walter Milan, spokesman for Italy’s Alpine rescue service, said the cable line was renovated in 2016 and had only recently reopened after COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy.
Associated Press images show the broken cable car smashed on the mountain overlooking Lake Maggiore. Police and rescue crew are shown surrounding the scene.
The line is popular with tourists and locals and reaches a height of 4,900 feet. It overlooks lakes and the surrounding Alps of Italy’s Piedmont region, according to the outlet.
The mountain also hosts a small children’s amusement park, as well as mountain bike paths and hiking trails.
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The fatal crash is one of Italy‘s worst cable car disasters since 1998, when a U.S. military jet cut through a ski lift cable in Cavalese, killing 20 people.
