Italy to explore criminal charges in deadly cable car crash

Lead prosecutor said possible crimes being investigated are multiple manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and ‘attack on public transport’.

Criminal charges are being explored as part of the investigation into Italy’s cable car disaster that killed 14 people, an Italian prosecutor said on Monday. The investigation will focus on why the lead cable snapped and why the emergency brake did not engage and prevent the cabin from careening back down the mountain until it pulled off the support line and crashed to the ground, lead prosecutor Olimpia Bossi announced. Bossi outlined the contours of her investigation based on what she said was objective, empirical fact of what occurred: “The brake system clearly did not work because otherwise, the cable car would have stopped,” said the Verbania prosecutor.