A cable car on Monte Marconiaga in northwestern Italy suffered an accident on the 30th, causing at least four injuries and trapping about 100 people for a time. The stranded individuals were later airlifted by helicopter to a safe location.
The cable car leads to the 2,800-meter-high Passo Moro, near the Swiss border.
A spokesperson for the Alps rescue team said: "The cable car cabin appeared to arrive at the mountain station at excessive speed, which caused the accident."
The local fire department stated in a release that two cable car cabins respectively crashed into the cable car’s top and bottom stations near the village of Macugniaga.
The statement noted that three of the 15 passengers in the top station cabin were injured, and an employee at the bottom station was also injured.
Following the accident, the cable car service was suspended and about 100 passengers were temporarily trapped at the 2,800-meter Passo Moro mountain summit station.
Besozi, head of the company operating the cable car, said that the most seriously injured was a 59-year-old man who sustained an arm injury.
He said the cause of the accident was a "technical failure"—the cable car did not slow down properly as it approached the station and thus crashed into the safety barrier. The cable car itself did not suffer major damage.
The involved cable car was built in 1962 and underwent a 2 million euro (approximately 9.52 million ringgit) renovation two years ago.