British couple killed in cable car crash, Italian police say

A British couple were among the four people killed in a cable car crash near Naples, Italian police have confirmed.

The mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground after one of the cables supporting it snapped on Thursday, according to reports.

The UK foreign office said it was in touch with local authorities but has not confirmed the identities of the victims.

Prosecutors have launched an investigation as officials said the victims were three passengers and the driver of the cable car.

A fifth person in the cabin was “extremely seriously injured” in the crash at Mount Faito and airlifted to hospital, officials said.

Sixteen people were rescued from a second cabin which was also on the line near the bottom of the valley at the time of the accident. They were winched to safety.

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia – where the cable car is located – said it was believed a traction cable had snapped.

“The emergency brake downstream worked but clearly not the one on the cabin that was about to reach the top of the hill,” he told Italian media on Thursday.

He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line which runs three kilometres from the town to the top of the mountain.

Shortly after the crash, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was on a trip to Washington, expressed her “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.

The Mount Faito cable car has been operating since 1952. A similar accident on the line in 1960 left four people dead.