The emergency braking system failed
on the cable car in Piedmont that plunged to the ground on
Sunday, killing 14 people, Olimpia Bossi, the chief prosecutor
of the city of Verbania, told reporters on Monday.
It seems that the brakes should have held the car steady after
one of the cables broke.
Instead the car seems to have slid back until it hit a pylon and
then plunged to the ground.
The cable car, which had a maximum capacity of 35, connected the
Lake Maggiore resort of Stresa to the summit of the Mottarone
mountain at some 1,500 metres above sea level.
Stresa declared Monday a day of mourning in the town.
Five families have been destroyed by the disaster.
The only survivor, a five-year-old boy, is fighting for his life
in hospital.
Three of the five families were resident in Lombardy, including
one of Israeli origin, while one was from Emilia Romagna and one
from Calabria .
The victims of Israeli origin were a married couple and their
two-year-old child, who died along with an elderly couple, the
woman's grandparents.
Their five-year-old son is the survivor.
The boy's aunt said Monday that she found out about the disaster
when she started receiving Whatsapp messages containing
condolences and, at first, she did not understand why.
A five-year-old Italian child and his parents also died.
The other victims were three couples.
A probe into culpable homicide and culpable disaster has been
opened.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini said it
was a day of "great sadness" for the whole nation after holding
a meeting on the disaster with Civil Protection Chief Fabrizio
Curcio, Piedmont Governor Alberto Cirio and Stresa Mayor
Marcella Severino.
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