During the investigation into the course of the cable car accident on Lake Maggiore on Pentecost Sunday, the suspicion of grossly negligent behavior on the part of the operating company "Ferrovie del Mottarone" has been confirmed.

As Italian news agencies reported on Wednesday, the head of the operating company, an engineer and the operations manager on duty were arrested around four in the morning.

Matthias Rüb

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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    The chief prosecutor of the Verbania province, Olimpia Bossi, accuses the arrested of knowingly deactivating the emergency braking system of the cable car. The reason is presumed that since the cable car between Lido di Stresa and Monte Mottarone went into operation on April 27, there have been repeated interruptions to operations due to the obviously incorrect automatic activation of the emergency braking system. In order to guarantee the uninterrupted operation of the system, a steel bracket was inserted between the brake shoes to prevent the shoes from closing.

    As reported by Italian media, the three men confessed to having deliberately suspended the emergency braking system.

    They would have wanted to prevent the gondola from having to suspend its service.

    The decision to switch off the emergency braking system was based on the conviction that “the cable would never tear”.

    The emergency brake is intended to prevent the cabin gondola from rushing downhill in an emergency - such as when the pulling rope breaks.

    The public prosecutor's office suspects that the decision to insert the bracket was made because the repairs that were due would have required the plant to be shut down for a longer period of time.

    The emergency braking system of the gondola cabin traveling downhill at the time of the accident had worked properly, and the passengers there remained uninjured.

    Public Prosecutor: "The plant should have stood still"

    According to the regulations, a bracket for keeping the brake shoes of the emergency braking system open permanently may only be inserted if there are no people in the nacelle. The aim of the device is to ensure that nobody has to climb up to the gondola and the suspension cable in order to release the emergency brake if it has come to a standstill on the way between the stations after a power failure or a hydraulic defect. According to media reports, the day before the accident the gondola system came to a standstill for around half an hour. It has not yet been clarified whether there is a connection between the break in the pull rope on Whitsunday and the interruption of operations the day before.

    Before the three men were arrested, several employees of the cable car had been questioned by the investigators in the presence of their lawyers, Italian media reported. In addition, the recordings from the surveillance cameras at the mountain station were evaluated. This shows how the cabin suddenly comes to a stop shortly before entering the station because the pulling rope has broken and then moves downhill at increasing speed.

    Chief Public Prosecutor Bossi told the Italian media that the steel bracket in the emergency brake had not been accidentally left in the system: “It was a conscious decision made for economic reasons. The plant should have come to a standstill. ”There are“ clear indications of culpable behavior ”by the plant operator, said Bossi. The accident on Sunday killed 14 people, including five from an Israeli family. The condition of the five-year-old Israeli boy, who was the only one who survived the disaster and is being treated in a clinic in Turin, stabilized on the third night after the accident.

    After the tragedy of Whitsunday, the organizers of the Giro d'Italia changed the route for the stage planned for Friday. A difficult ascent to Monte Mottarone in the northern Italian region of Piedmont was planned for the 19th stage. In agreement with Italy's Transport Minister Enrico Giovannini and those responsible for the Piedmont region, the race management decided on Tuesday evening to change the route. The modified stage with a length of 166 kilometers now starts in Abbiategrasso, west of Milan. Previously, Minister Giovannini and representatives of the regional government in Turin asked the organizers to change the route out of respect for the victims.