Italian prosecutors have opened a multiple manslaughter probe into the deaths of four people, including two Brits, killed in a cable car disaster in Italy.
The disaster happened at around 3pm on Thursday in Castellammare di Stabia, on the Gulf of Naples, when a traction cable reportedly gave way, causing the cable car to descend rapidly for several metres before crashing into a support pillar and falling 90ft to the ground below. Torre Annunziata prosecutor, Nunzio Fragliasso, said: “We are in the preliminary phase of the investigations”. The unnamed British couple died alongside an Israeli woman and the driver of the cable car, named by Italian media as 59-year-old Carmine Parlato.
A fourth tourist is understood to be in intensive care at the Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples. It is feared bad weather may have played a part in the tragedy, which came after a yellow weather alert was declared from 2pm, due to the risk of thunderstorms.
The popular attraction, which carried more than 108,000 passengers last year and offers panoramic views of nearby Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples over its 3km journey, had only reopened for the tourist season ten days ago after meeting all safety conditions.
According to reports in Italy, the cable car set off at 2.40pm before a problem was identified six minutes later, which should have triggered the system’s emergency brakes. According to initial findings, the cabin remained on the wire for a few seconds, then came crashing down.
But when rescuers originally got to the scene, which was covered in fog, they initially believed the car was suspended somewhere above them, obscured by the weather.
At 4.45pm, witnesses heard rescuers shouting hopefully: “They are above, they are above.” Locals, including the dead cable car driver’s worried wife, waited for updates at a nearby station, as constant attempts were made to contact him on his phone.
However, at 5.15pm the previous optimism was eroded, when an investigator told them: “The cabin has fallen, there are victims.” Another cable car, containing 16 people, was trapped in the air as a result of the incident and had to be rescued, with footage in Italian media showing survivors being transferred from the cars in harnesses.
The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, Luigi Vicinanza, said that the cable car had “just twenty to twenty-five seconds left” of its journey when the tragedy struck.
Eav CEO Umberto De Gregorio believes there can be “no connection between the bad weather and the collapse of the cabin”. He said: “I’m not saying that, the technicians are saying that. There is an automatic system. When the wind exceeds a certain level, the cable car stops automatically”.
Mr De Gregorio described the disaster as “an unimaginable tragedy”. He said: “The towing cable of the cabin that was going up broke. The cabin downstream had no consequences, it just got stuck and all the people were saved. The cabin upstream, however, we believe went at full speed against the pylon and then fell.”
He added: “It needs to be clarified what happened. We will, as always and obviously, give our maximum cooperation to the investigating authorities. We will also try to understand what happened with an internal commission where we will nominate high-profile professionals. All assumptions must be analysed, human error, exceptional event and more.
“We have a very high-quality operations manager. Sometimes it closes in the presence of strong winds, evidently today he deemed that the conditions were not such as to impose the stop. The director of operations decides on weather conditions. In this case, it was evidently deemed that the conditions were not such as to warrant a closure.”
The National Agency for the Safety of Railways and Road and Motorway Infrastructure ( ANSFIS) reported that in March 2024 , “the cableway was inspected, as required by current legislation, which establishes the obligation of direct inspections of the systems every three years .”
With regard to the 2025 checks, the Agency added: “the operating company EAV sent all the necessary documentation on April 8 , including the results of the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance checks, as well as the non-destructive tests performed on the cables.
“These checks were accompanied by specific reports signed by the operations manager, who certifies the full suitability of the system to continue its activity in safety.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is in Washington DC attending talks with US President Donald Trump, has sent her condolences. A statement shared by by the Italian government said: “Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wishes to express, on behalf of the Italian Government and her own, her closeness and deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the injured.”
It is not the first time the Faito cable car has known tragedy. On August 15, 1960, due to human error, one of the cabins reached the valley without being able to stop its course before falling onto the underlying tracks of the Circumvesuviana railway line, leaving four people dead and 31 injured.
More recently, it remained closed for works for four years, until the last reopening, which took place in 2016. Mayor Luigi Vicinanza Sindaco said in a statement on Facebook: “Due to the serious events of the Faito cable car, all events planned for the Easter holidays are cancelled.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office told the Mirror: “We are monitoring the situation following an incident in Italy and are in contact with the local authorities.”
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