Tragedy on the Faito Cable Car: Cabin Falls, Four Dead and One Seriously InjuredFour people were killed and one was critically injured in a cable car disaster on the Monte Faito cableway near Sorrento in Italy's southern Campania region on Thursday afternoon.The tragedy unfolded shortly after 15.00, when the traction cable snapped, causing a cabin near the mountain station to plunge and crash into a support pylon. At the time of the accident, 16 people — a mix of tourists and staff — were on board the two cabins. Following the cable failure, both cabins were left suspended in mid-air. Emergency systems activated immediately, blocking the cabins in place. While 11 passengers were safely evacuated from the cabin closer to the base station using harnesses and ropes, tragedy struck the cabin higher up the mountain. After hours of frantic search efforts complicated by heavy fog, firefighters located the fallen cabin. On board were four tourists and a cable car operator: only one survived, but with life-threatening injuries. The victims include Carmine Parlato, an employee of the Ente Autonomo Volturno (EAV) company which operates public transport by road, rail and cableway in the Campania region. The injured survivor was rushed to the Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples in a critical condition. The accident prompted an immediate investigation by the Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor’s Office, which sequestered the entire cableway. The system had reopened just a week earlier, with an inaugural run attended by the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, Luigi Vicinanza. “It appears the traction cable broke,” the mayor explained later in the day. “The emergency brake at the valley station worked, but not the one near the summit where the cabin was arriving.” Visibility issues severely hampered rescue operations, with dense fog preventing helicopters from quickly identifying the fallen cabin. News of the severed communication with the mountain station cabin raised hopes that it was still suspended — hopes that were tragically dashed around 18.00, when EAV president Umberto De Gregorio confirmed the cabin had crashed. Campania president Vincenzo De Luca visited the site in the early evening, describing a “scene of devastation” and initially reporting three deaths and one missing person. Later, a fourth body was recovered. The incident also disrupted the surrounding infrastructure. The broken cable fell onto the Circumvesuviana railway tracks between Pioppaino and Sorrento, forcing the closure of the Castellammare di Stabia station and nearby panoramic roads for safety reasons. The Monte Faito cable car, inaugurated in 1952, had previously suffered a fatal accident in 1960 when a descending cabin detached and crashed onto railway tracks, killing four people, including a child. “This is an unimaginable and unpredictable tragedy,” EAV president De Gregorio stated. He defended the decision to operate the cable car despite the day’s poor weather, noting that safety standards were rigorously applied and that closure due to wind conditions is typically assessed carefully. In a statement, Massimo Aversa, secretary general of trade union Fit Cisl Campania, expressed condolences and called for immediate clarity: “Safety remains a topic too often discussed only after lives are lost. We must get answers quickly and ensure accountability for this unacceptable disaster.” As investigations continue, the region mourns one of the worst accidents in its recent history — amid serious questions about the safety and maintenance of one of Campania’s most iconic transport systems.

Four people were killed and one was critically injured in a cable car disaster on the Monte Faito cableway near Sorrento in Italy's southern Campania region on Thursday afternoon. The tragedy unfolded shortly after 15.00, when the traction cable snapped, causing a cabin near the mountain station to plunge and crash into a support pylon. At the time of the accident, 16 people — a mix of tourists and staff — were on board the two cabins. Following the cable failure, both cabins were left suspended in mid-air. Emergency systems activated immediately, blocking the cabins in place. While 11 passengers were safely evacuated from the cabin closer to the base station using harnesses and ropes, tragedy struck the cabin higher up the mountain. After hours of frantic search efforts complicated by heavy fog, firefighters located the fallen cabin. On board were four tourists and a cable car operator: only one survived, but with life-threatening injuries. The victims include Carmine Parlato, an employee of the Ente Autonomo Volturno (EAV) company which operates public transport by road, rail and cableway in the Campania region. The injured survivor was rushed to the Ospedale del Mare hospital in Naples in a critical condition. The accident prompted an immediate investigation by the Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor’s Office, which sequestered the entire cableway. The system had reopened just a week earlier, with an inaugural run attended by the mayor of Castellammare di Stabia, Luigi Vicinanza. “It appears the traction cable broke,” the mayor explained later in the day. “The emergency brake at the valley station worked, but not the one near the summit where the cabin was arriving.” Visibility issues severely hampered rescue operations, with dense fog preventing helicopters from quickly identifying the fallen cabin. News of the severed communication with the mountain station cabin raised hopes that it was still suspended — hopes that were tragically dashed around 18.00, when EAV president Umberto De Gregorio confirmed the cabin had crashed. Campania president Vincenzo De Luca visited the site in the early evening, describing a “scene of devastation” and initially reporting three deaths and one missing person. Later, a fourth body was recovered. The incident also disrupted the surrounding infrastructure. The broken cable fell onto the Circumvesuviana railway tracks between Pioppaino and , forcing the closure of the Castellammare di Stabia station and nearby panoramic roads for safety reasons. The Monte Faito cable car, inaugurated in 1952, had previously suffered a fatal accident in 1960 when a descending cabin detached and crashed onto railway tracks, killing four people, including a child. “This is an unimaginable and unpredictable tragedy,” EAV president De Gregorio stated. He defended the decision to operate the cable car despite the day’s poor weather, noting that safety standards were rigorously applied and that closure due to wind conditions is typically assessed carefully. In a statement, Massimo Aversa, secretary general of trade union Fit Cisl Campania, expressed condolences and called for immediate clarity: “Safety remains a topic too often discussed only after lives are lost. We must get answers quickly and ensure accountability for this unacceptable disaster.” As investigations continue, the region mourns one of the worst accidents in its recent history — amid serious questions about the safety and maintenance of one of Campania’s most iconic transport systems.