UPDATE: The death toll has risen to 14.
A horrific cable car accident in Italy killed at least Nine on Sunday. The accident happened when a cable car linking Italy's Lake Maggiore with a nearby mountain in the Alps broke down and fell to the ground. Two children have been seriously injured as well.
"This is the final toll of the accident as the car was carrying 11 passengers when the disaster happened," Simone Bobbio, a spokesman for Italy's alpine rescue service for the Piedmont region, told Reuters.
Only eleven people were on board the cable car, which carries tourists and local people from the town of Stresa on Lake Maggiore.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said the cabin, which has a capacity of 40, plunged into a wooded area in an inaccessible area, making rescue efforts difficult.
The injured children have been transported by helicopter to a hospital in Turin.
Reuters reported that the cable car service had started in 1970. The line consists of two cars with each one carrying up to 40 passengers.
The cable car cabin plunged close to the second last pillar as it was moving up the mountain, the officials said, adding there were still no details about the nationality or ages of the victims.
A call to rescue services came just after midday (1000 GMT), Milan said, adding that cable car had fallen from a very high point and was now "crumpled" in the woods below.
The Stresa-Mottarone lift had only recently re-opened following the gradual lifting of coronavirus restrictions.
The Mottarone peak is popular among tourists because of its panoramic views on Lake Maggiore and its picturesque islands as well as the vista of the surrounding Alps.
(With Reuters inputs)
