Five Israelis killed in a cable car disaster in the Alps

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry reports that it has received word from the Italian authorities that 5 Israelis were among 13 people killed in a cable car disaster today in the Italian Alps and a child in critical condition, who was operated on at a local hospital.

Photo: Fire brigade authorities

Among them are a family with 2 children and an elderly couple from Italy.

The cable car linked the town of Stresa to the Mottarone peak overlooking Lake Maggiore.

🔴 #Verbania #23maggio, incidente funivia Stresa-Alpino-Mottarone: concluso il lavoro dei 30 #vigilidelfuoco impegnati per l’ispezione della cabina precipitata e per il recupero dei corpi privi di vita delle 13 vittime [20:30 #23maggio] pic.twitter.com/WLbjMVtae8

— Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) May 23, 2021

Five Israelis, all members of one family, were among the 14 people who were killed when the cable car they were riding on the way to the Alps in northern Italy fell and crashed on Sunday.

The Israeli victims are Amit Biran, 30, and Tal Peleg-Biran, 26, an Israeli couple studying and working in Italy who lived in Fabia, and their son Tom Biran, a two-year-old toddler.

Eitan, 5, their older son, is in critical condition and underwent surgery.

Barbara and Yitzhak Cohen, Tal’s grandparents who arrived in Milan to visit their granddaughter and great-grandchildren, were also killed.

Amit’s sister, Aya, is in the hospital with Eitan.

Amit Biran’s brother, and Tal’s brother and father, will fly to Italy Monday night.

Israel’s Consul in Rome, Eitan Avraham, and the Department of Israelis Abroad in the Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acted and assisted the family immediately upon receiving the notification from the local police.

The Israeli Embassy in Rome is assisting in the transfer of the bodies to Israel.

The accident happened on the way from the resort town of Stresa up the nearby Mottarone Mountain in the region of Piedmont.

The cause of the incident remains unclear but initial reports indicate that the maintenance company may have been negligent in its operations at the site.

Italian Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini announced an inquiry into the incident with the local prosecutor’s office also opening an investigation.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi expressed “the condolences of the whole government to the families of the victims, with a special thought for the seriously injured children and their families.”