Only two of the 15 passengers survived the break in the Stresa-Mottarone cable car on Whitsunday on the Italian side of Lake Maggiore. For reasons that are still unexplained, the wire rope cut. At 12.30 p.m. the gondola crashed into the wooded mountainside after the last mast, around 300 meters from the mountain station. 13 people died on the spot.
Rescuers were able to recover two survivors: a younger and an older child. Shortly before 3 p.m., the two seriously injured were flown by helicopter to the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin. Doctors described her condition as critical, like that “Corriere della Sera” reported.
The doctors fought in vain for the life of the elderly gondola victim. The allegedly nine-year-old child died a few hours after arriving at the hospital. Presumably because the victim did not have any papers with him and his identity is unclear. The child had only had to be reanimated for more than six minutes. The victim had suffered multiple fractures, skull and chest trauma. But any help came too late. The heart stopped. The injured died in great agony, as it is said, in the intensive care unit.
Surviving boy is scared
The younger victim, a five-year-old boy, is conscious, but according to Fabrizio Gennari, director of pediatric surgery at the hospital, his life is in mortal danger. He suffered several broken legs that were operated on on Sunday. The boy didn’t have any papers either. Nobody in the hospital knows his name and exact age yet.
He too suffered injuries – to his head, chest and stomach. But he is even more afraid than pain: “Leave me alone, I’m afraid” – these should be the only words, in Italian, that the boy said after his admission to the emergency room.
Doctors fight for the boy’s life. “To stabilize him, he was sedated. We have no chance of exchanging further words with him, »said surgeon Gennari. “But he responds to the treatment.” The next few hours are crucial.
Eitan loses his whole family
The misfortune claimed dead families and lovers. Who are the parents of the only survivor? Who did the boy ride up the mountain with?
The authorities fear, given the very young age of the little one, that he lost his parents on Sunday. According to the BBC the child should also have Israeli citizenship. Among the dead is a family of five from Israel: the two grandparents Konisky and Tshak C. * (71 and 83), their daughter Tal Peleg (27), her husband Amit B. (30) and son Tom (2).
Tom was just two years old and was born in Pavia, where the family lived, like “La Repubblica” writes. His father had moved to Italy to study medicine – and grandma and grandpa traveled from Israel for short vacations during this difficult time in their homeland. The boy who is now fighting for his life in the Turin hospital is called Eitan. He lost his whole family. (kes)
* Names known to the editors