A woman was killed in a cable car tragedy in front of her two young children and husband during a holiday in Italy.
Margherita Lega, 41, plunged 500ft to her death in the Anzasca Valley in the Alps.
She had been loading luggage onto the ski lift – which was designed to carry only bags, not people – when her clothes were caught on the machine, which suddenly switched on.
There was nothing she could do as the lift began moving, dragging her over the cliff edge.
She clung on as it carried her more than 150 feet, before she was no longer able to hold her weight and let go, plunging to her death, La Repubblica reports.
Margherita’s two children, aged six and nine, watched as their mother vanished into the depths of the mountain.
The family were on their way to stay in a cabin on the Drocala mountain pasture when the tragedy happened.
When emergency services finally arrived at the site, there was nothing they could do, but confirm her death.
Her body was located deep into the valley. Technicians from the Piedmont Alpine and Speleological Rescue team were lowered with a winch from a helicopter to recover it.
It is understood that Margherita was from the northern city of Trento, and worked as a teacher.
Mayor of Calasca Castiglione, Silvia Tipaldi, said she was ‘shocked’ by the tragic incident and shared her condolences with the family.
She said: ‘We are shocked, we are worried about this family. It happened in the late morning and the helicopter arrived to provide assistance.’
The cableway, which connects the Olino hamlet with the Drocala pasture, is said to travel a distance of around 1,300ft.
It is usually operated by two people, at two points, above and below, but it still remains unclear if workers were at the scene.
The facility has been closed while an investigation is ongoing to determine what happened.
This is the latest incident involving a cable car after a pod burst open mid-air in Antalya, Turkey, killing one person and leaving almost 200 passengers stranded.
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