A British couple was one of the four people killed in a cable car accident near Naples, Italian police said.
The mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground after one of the cables, the supporter broke Thursday, local officials announced.
The cable car operator said that he had a security inspection barely two weeks ago – and a criminal investigation was now opened.
The UK Foreign Office said he was in contact with local authorities but did not confirm the identity of the victims.
They would be three passengers and the driver of the cable car, who was appointed by local officials such as Carmine Parlato, 59 years old.
The fourth deceased was an Israeli woman, according to a spokesperson for the mayor of Castellammare di Stagia.
A fifth person in the cabin, who is said to be another tourist, was “very seriously injured” in the accident and air in the hospital, officials said. They are now in a stable state, the alpine rescue service at the BBC said on Friday morning.
The formal identification of the remaining victims has not yet taken place.
The authorities of Torre Annunziata have opened an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Sixteen people were saved from a second cabin which was also on the line near the valley at the time of the accident. They were treated safely.
The mayor of Castellammare di Stagia – where the cable car is – said it was believed that a traction cable had broken.
“The downstream emergency brake has worked, but clearly not that of the cabin that was going to reach the top of the hill,” he told Italian media on Thursday.
He added that there had been regular security checks on the cable car line which roamed three kilometers from the city at the top of the mountain.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom said: “We are dealing with an incident in Italy and are in contact with local authorities. Our thoughts concern affected people.”
Shortly after the accident, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was traveling to Washington, expressed his “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.
The Mount Faith cable car has been operating since 1952. An online accident in 1960 left four dead.
