Cable car falls in Italy, 12 killed, several injured

The Stresa-Mottarone cable car carries tourists and local people from the town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore, almost 1,400 metres above sea level, to the top of the Mottarone mountain.

A photo of the wreckage taken by Italy's fire brigade showed the crushed remains of the red and white cable car in a clearing of a heavily wooded area near the peak of the ski resort.

The cable car cabin plunged close to the second last pillar as it was moving up the mountain, Bobbio said, adding there were still no details about the nationality or ages of the victims.

"This is the final toll of the accident as the car was carrying 11 passengers when the disaster happened," a spokesman for Italy's alpine rescue service for the Piedmont region told the international news agency.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi described the crash as a "tragic accident" and said he was receiving updates from the minister of infrastructure and transport as well as local officials.

"I express the condolences of the whole Government to the families of the victims, with a special thought for the seriously injured children and their families," he said in a statement.

The Stresa-Mottarone lift had only recently re-opened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions.

The dual cable system is split into two sections, just over two kilometres between Stresa and Alpino and another three kilometres between Alpino and Mottarone.

The 20-minute cable car ride, popular with tourists, links the resort of Stresa with the 1,500-meter (4,900-foot) summit of the Mottarone mountain.

It's the latest incident to raise questions about the quality of Italy's transport infrastructure. In 2018, the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed after years of neglect, killing 43 people.