ITALY REMEMBERS THE DEAD A WEEK AFTER CABLE CAR ACCIDENT

The Italian region of Piedmont observed a minute's silence on Sunday in remembrance of 14 people who died when a cable car crashed on Monte Mottarone last week, allegedly because the system was not kept in proper working order.

The accident occurred on a line that links the resort town of Stresa with the 1,500-meter-high Mount Mottarone, west of Lake Maggiore, on May 23, Klaus Blume and Johannes Neudecker reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

"A week has passed since a day we will never forget," wrote Alberto Cirio, the president of the Piedmont region, on social media. He said it was a day of mourning for the region and an embrace for all the families destroyed by this "madness."

The cable car had been carrying 15 people. The only survivor was a 5-year-old boy who lost several members of his family, including his parents.

The boy, an Israeli native, showed signs of recovery on Sunday, eating a little food for the first time in a week, reported the hospital in Turin.

He remains in intensive care and is being accompanied by his aunt and grandmother. Officials continue to investigate what caused the accident.

They suspect that a clamp was used on the gondola to prevent the emergency brake from being applied, following repeated malfunctions in operations. The clamp may actually only be used for maintenance purposes, but never during regular operations, according to Leitern, a company contracted for the maintenance of the Stresa-Monte Mottarone cable car.

Investigators suspect that by overriding the brake, tourists could be transported more smoothly towards the summit of Monte Mottarone, famed for its views of Lake Maggiore and the mountains nearby. Three men were detained after the accident, but the magistrate in Verbania ordered two of them to be released. A third is under house arrest, according to reports.

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