Death toll from Italy cable car accident rises to 12

Rome: The death toll from a cable car accident in Italy’s northern Piedmont region on Sunday rose to 12, emergency services said.

The toll could rise further from the accident in the resort town of Stresa on the shores of Lake Maggiore, the Alpine rescue service said on Twitter.

Mountain side

A cable car plunged to the ground on the side of a mountain in northern Italy, emergency services said.

Images from the fire service show debris from the cabin in a wooded area where a steep slope makes access difficult.

The 20-minute cable car ride, popular with tourists, links Stresa with the 1,500-metre (4,900-foot) summit of the Mottarone mountain, which offers spectacular views of the Alps.

The accident, which occurred around 300 metres from the summit, may have been caused by a broken cable at the top of the system, the Ansa news agency said.