At least four 'foreign tourists' dead in Italian cable car horror: Cabin plunges to the ground in bad weather near Naples
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Four tourists have died after a cable car crashed to the ground in southern Italy today.
The horror unfolded at Monte Faito, a peak around 45 kilometres south-east of Naples.
Local media are reporting the four people killed are 'foreign tourists'.
A fifth person is said to have been seriously injured and had to be airlifted to the Ospedale del Mare hopsital in Naples.
It is understood firefighters and mountain rescue teams are currently at the site and have continued to work well into the night after having had difficulty working due to strong winds and thick fog.
The cable car had been over a steep drop when its cable snapped, according to local reports.
At around 4:30pm local time, local media reported that the cable car had broken down and had left two cabins suspended mid-air near the foot of the mountain.
Ente Autonomo Volturno, the company that operates the cable car, said that all passengers were fine and were 'descending safely'.
But around an hour and a half later, contact was lost with one of the cable cars.
EAV then confirmed that the cabin at the top of the mountain had plummeted.
'The cabin at the top has crashed, casualties are feared,' said Umberto De Gregorio, the chairman of firm Ente Autonomo Volturno, which operates the cable car service, who called the incident 'a tragedy.'
Footage shared on social media and shown on Italian television showed how 16 survivors were helped out the other cabin and were evacuated one by one, using harnesses.
One particular video showed one tourist being lowered out of the cable car and towards the ground.
‘Four dead bodies were found and a fifth injured person was rescued and taken to hospital,’ a spokesperson for the local fire service said on Telegram.
The Torre Annunziata public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the disaster.
Speaking on the tragic accident, Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi said: 'I express deep condolences, on behalf of the Metropolitan City of Naples and myself, for the victims of the tragedy that occurred this afternoon due to the collapse of the Faito cable car cabin'.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is currently in Washington attending talks with US President Donald Trump, has also offered her condolences.
A press release issued by the Italian government said: 'Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is in Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump, learned of the tragic accident that occurred today on the Monte Faito cable car and 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.'
President Meloni is in contact with the Minister for Civil Protection Nello Musumeci and the Head of the Department Fabio Ciciliano.
The Monte Faito cable car connects the historic town of Castellammare di Stabia with Monte Faito.
The horrific accident happened just a week after the site reopened for the season.
In 2021 in Italy when a cable car linking the northern Lake Maggiore with a nearby mountain plunged to the ground.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
