NEW SUSPECTS UNDER PROBE IN ITALY CABLE CAR TRAGEDY

Italian justice authorities are investigating new suspects in the cable car accident that cost the lives of 14 people, prosecutor Olimpia Bossi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The new suspects include high-ranking employees of the South Tyrolese cable car manufacturer Leitner, bringing the total number of suspects to 14.

“An inclusion into the investigation registry was obvious for the prosecution in Verbania because there is a maintenance contract between Leitner and the firm Ferrovie del Mottarone Srl," Leitner said.

Leitner had carried out some maintenance work and checks at the Stresa cable car, which connected Mount Mottarone with the western shore of Lake Maggiore. Leitner said it had provided comprehensive documentation to the prosecution on the case.

For reasons that have not yet been explained, the cable car's pull rope snapped. At that moment, the emergency brakes on the carrying cable should have intervened and prevented the fall, but clamps deactivated the mechanism.

According to the investigations, the emergency brakes had apparently been causing disturbances in the operation of the cable car. Usually, they should only be deactivated during maintenance work.

The cable car running on a line linking the resort town of Stresa with the 1,500-metre-high Mount Mottarone, west of Lake Maggiore, crashed to the ground on May 23, killing 14 of the 15 people it was carrying.

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