Pope Francis regretted this Tuesday (25) the “tragic” deaths that occurred in the fall of a cabin on the Stresa cable car, located in the Piedmont region, last Sunday (23) and said he prayed for the recovery of the only survivor among the 15 passengers.
In a telegram sent to the Bishop of Novara, Franco Giulio Brambilla, the Catholic leader “expresses great pain” at the “dramatic incident” of the Stresa-Mottarone cable car and expresses his “closeness and heartfelt condolences”.
“Thinking with emotion in so many lives tragically lost while they were immersed in the wonders of the Creator, I assure my prayers for those who died, for those who cry for them and for little Eitan, which the delicate case I follow with attention”, said referring to the 5-year-old boy who is admitted to an intensive care unit in a hospital in Turin.
The document also points out that the Catholic leader “participates, in a particular way, in the affliction of the local community and of the diocese of Novara, and joins the beloved Italian people, who suffer from the serious tragedy”.
The collapse of the cabin culminated in the deaths of 14 people from five different families.
Investigation
More than 48 hours after the accident, Verbânia’s prosecutor, Olimpia Bossi, gave more details of the investigations. According to her, a video shows that “the cabin had reached the landing point”, but it rocks on the spot “and begins to descend backwards”.
The transport adviser to the Piedmont government, Marco Gabusi, pointed out that the analyzes show that the cabin reached “more than 100km / h” on the descent and that it made a “54-meter flight”.
“There are two brake systems that must act if something like this happens. If the brake system is not applied, it throws the cab backwards. It is estimated that it did this at more than 100 km / h. On the pole [de sustentação], there should be no bump, but the change in speed acted like a springboard and the cabin made a jump in the air at 100km / h, making a flight of 54 meters, and then rolled on the ground some tens of meters “, he explained.
Authorities want to understand why the emergency brake system did not do its job after one of the cab’s support cables broke.
According to the company Leitner, responsible for the repairs, the equipment had undergone maintenance on May 3 and nothing was found to be a problem.
Eitan
The only survivor of the tragedy, the boy Eitan spent another stable and peaceful night, according to Regina Margherita hospital.
The director general of the City of Health, to which the institution belongs, Giovanni La Valle, said that “Dr. Ivanin’s team started the process to wake the boy, which consists of reducing the dosage of medicines that are keeping him in an induced coma. “. “In the coming hours, there will be an increasingly gradual reduction,” said the official.
In the tragedy, Eitan lost his parents and two brothers and, currently, his uncles are taking turns in the hospital to monitor the progress of the hospitalization.
