Italian authorities say the accident occurred Thursday at about 2:40 p.m. local time on the Monte Faito line overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Strong winds, rain and fog were reported in the area, but the lift remained in operation, ferrying tourists up the 800‑meter (2,600‑foot) peak.
The downbound car, carrying a five‑member German family and four university students — two French and two German — halted six minutes into its eight‑minute journey. Rescue crews reached that car, lowered its occupants to safety by winch and then lost contact with the other car in the thick fog.
That upbound car, nearly at the top station, was carrying Israeli siblings Jenan Sliman, 20, and her brother, Taabet, alongside a British couple and 59‑year‑old operator Carmine Perlate. Moments after contact was lost, one of the cables supporting the car snapped, and the cabin tumbled several hundred meters (yards), tearing through trees before coming to rest in steep terrain.
Sliman, of Mashhad in Israel’s Lower Galilee, and three others — two British tourists and Perlate, an experienced employee of regional operator EAV — were killed. Taabet Sliman was found alive inside the wreckage and airlifted to a Naples hospital in critical condition with multiple lower‑body fractures. Doctors say there is no evidence of head or upper‑body injury.
Italy’s national prosecutor has opened an inquiry on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and criminal negligence. “We must investigate every detail with the utmost care,” said Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania region.
Survivors of the halted car described a terrifying wait. “It felt like a roller coaster,” said Elisa, one of the students. “Then we were left hanging in mid‑air. It was terrifying, but rescuers kept us calm.” A rescuer recalled German children “crying and clinging to us” once they were secure.
Sicilian influencer Katia Zaia, who decided not to board because of the fog, said, “I live by luck. I told my friend, ‘Let’s come back another day.’ Now I’m here to tell my story.”
EAV CEO Umberto De Giorgio said all safety requirements were met when the line reopened last week for the tourist season after its winter closure. The cable car first opened in 1952; a similar accident in 1960 killed four people. Major renovations took place in 1988–90 and again in 2012, and the line resumed service in 2019 with a single car.
