Four dead in cable car crash south of Naples, Italy - 17 April 2025

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Four people have died after a mountain cable car cabin crashed to the ground near Naples in southern Italy, emergency services say.

Another person was "extremely seriously injured" in the crash at Mount Faito and was being airlifted to hospital, officials said.

Italian media outlets reported that one of the cables supporting a cabin higher up the mountain had snapped while the cable car was traversing the valley.

The president of the region, Vincenzo De Luca, said the victims were all tourists. De Luca added that poor weather conditions including fog, wind and rain were making it difficult for rescue workers to reach the area where the cabin had crashed, at a high altitude.

Italian media had earlier on Thursday reported that the cable car had come to a halt and several people had been rescued from a second cabin which had stopped further down the valley.

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia - where the cable car was located - said they believed a traction cable had snapped. "The emergency brake downstream worked but clearly not the one on the cabin that was about to reach the the top of the hill," he told Italian media. He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A British couple were among the four people killed in a cable car crash near Naples, Italian police have said.

The mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground after one of the cables supporting it snapped on Thursday, local officials said.

The cable car operator said it had passed a safety inspection just two weeks ago - and a criminal investigation has now been opened.

The UK^▸ (United Kingdom) foreign office said it was in touch with local authorities but has not confirmed the identities of the victims.

They are believed to be three passengers and the driver of the cable car, who was named by local officials as 59-year-old Carmine Parlato. The fourth person who died was an Israeli woman, according to a spokesperson for the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia.

A fifth person in the cabin, believed to be another tourist, was "extremely seriously injured" in the crash and airlifted to hospital, officials said. They are now in stable condition, the Alpine Rescue Service told the BBC on Friday morning.

Formal identification of the remaining victims has not yet taken place.

Authorities in Torre Annunziata have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Sixteen people were rescued from a second cabin which was also on the line near the bottom of the valley at the time of the accident. They were winched to safety.

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia - where the cable car is located - said it was believed a traction cable had snapped. "The emergency brake downstream worked but clearly not the one on the cabin that was about to reach the top of the hill," he told Italian media on Thursday. He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line which runs three kilometres from the town to the top of the mountain.

A spokesperson for the UK's foreign office said: "We are dealing with an incident in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities. Our thoughts are with those affected."

Shortly after the crash, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was on a trip to Washington, expressed her "sincere condolences" to the families of the victims.

The Mount Faito cable car has been operating since 1952. A similar accident on the line in 1960 left four people dead.