The mayor of Stresa, where the incident occurred, said it appeared that a cable broke, sending the car careening until it hit a pylon and then fell to the ground. At that point, the car overturned "two or three times before hitting some trees," said Mayor Marcella Severino. Some of those who died were thrown from the cabin.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday morning identified the victims as Amit Biran, 30, and Tal Peleg-Biran, 26, and their child, Tom, and the grandparents, Yitzhak Cohen, 82, and Barbara Cohen, 70. The Birans lived in Italy for some time and were active in the local Jewish community.
They will be flown by Israel's national carrier El Al on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the Italian media reported that the cable car appeared to have had maintenance issues even before the crash. According to the report a day before the tragedy, it got stuck as it was being operated, although it is unclear if this situation contributed to the accident the following day.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
