An Italian official confirmed on Friday that three tourists were among the four fatalities in a cable car accident.

Marco De Rosa, the spokesperson for the mayor of Vico Equense, stated that and an Israeli woman were among the identified foreign victims of Thursday’s incident. The cable car’s Italian driver was the fourth casualty.

Initial reports indicate that a traction cable broke, causing one The accident occurred after both ascending and descending cable cars halted on Monte Faito, near Castellammare di Stabia.

Officials reported that a fifth individual, believed to be a foreign tourist, sustained serious injuries and is receiving treatment in a Naples hospital. Following the incident, sixteen passengers were rescued from another cable car that became stranded mid-air near the mountain’s base.

The accident occurred just one week after the cable car, known for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season.

Local prosecutors have launched a manslaughter investigation, which will include examining the cable stations, pylons, cabins, and cable, according to local officials on Friday.

Emergency services, including Italy’s alpine rescue and over 50 firefighters, worked through the night in difficult weather conditions, hindering rescue efforts.

Castellammare di Stabia’s Mayor, Luigi Vicinanza, stated on Thursday that “the traction cable broke. The downstream emergency brake functioned, but apparently not the one on the cabin entering the station.” He added that regular safety inspections had been carried out on the 3-kilometer (1.8 miles) cable car line from the town to the mountain’s summit.

The EAV public transport firm, which operates the service, emphasized that the seasonal cable car had reopened with all necessary safety requirements in place.

“The reopening occurred a week ago after three months of continuous testing, both day and night,” said EAV President Umberto De Gregorio. “This is inexplicable.”

De Gregorio mentioned that technical experts did not believe the was connected to the cause of the crash. “There is an automatic system. The cable car automatically stops when the wind exceeds a certain level,” he explained.

The Monte Faito cable car was inaugurated in 1952. In 1960, four people died when a pylon collapsed.

Italy has seen two similar fatal cable car accidents in recent years.

A cable car accident in northern Italy in May 2021 resulted in 14 deaths, including six Israelis, among them a family of four. In 1998, a low-flying severed a ski lift cable in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.