A mother has plunged 500ft to her death from a cable car in Italy after she was dragged away by the mountain lift system in front of her horrified family.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The woman, named as Margherita Lega, had been hiking with her husband and two young children during a holiday in the Italian Alps when the freak tragedy happened at around 11am today.
The 41-year-old had been loading luggage onto the teleferica machine – a small cable car used to transport baggage and objects rather than people – when her clothes were snagged by the contraption and it suddenly switched on.
SHE COULD NO LONGER HOLD ON
She clung on as it carried her more than 50 yards over a cliff edge, before she was no longer able to hold her weight and let go, plunging to her death, La Repubblica reports.
Ms Lega’s children, who are believed to have witnessed their mother’s harrowing death, are being looked after while her husband has been taken to the local police station following the horrific incident, which is now being investigated.
The family had reportedly been trying to reach a cabin on the mountain in the Calasca Castiglione area when Ms Lega plummeted into the deep gulley.
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The mayor of Calasca Castiglione, Silvia Tipaldi, said she was ‘shocked’ by the tragic death and shared her condolences with the family.
‘We are shocked,’ she said, adding: ‘We are waiting for the magistrate’s checks on the plant to have more information on what unfortunately turned out to be a tragedy‘.
