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Italy says two hostages likely killed in Isis Libya clashes

Italy said on Thursday that two of its nationals had likely been killed in clashes between Islamic State jihadists and local militia fighters near the Libyan city of Sabratha.

Italy says two hostages likely killed in Isis Libya clashes
Two Italians have likely been killed in clashes between Islamic State jihadists and local militia. Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP

A statement from the foreign ministry in Rome said photographs of the aftermath of the clashes included images of bodies that “in the absence of the bodies, could be” those of Italian citizens Fausto Piano and Salvatore Failla.
   
The two men were among four employees of Italian construction company Bonatti who were kidnapped in July 2015.
   
The foreign ministry said the families had been informed and further efforts were underway to try and positively identify the victims.
   
There was no comment from the ministry on media reports that the Italian hostages had been used as human shields by Isis.
   
Sabratha has been the scene of intense skirmishes between local militias and Islamic State fighters since last month's US attack on an IS training camp on the outskirts of the city, which left 50 people dead.
   
IS subsequently seized control of the centre of the city only to be pushed back to the outskirts last week.
   
The two Italians were kidnapped in July 2015 in the Mellitah region west of Tripoli.

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ACCIDENT

German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident

Thirteen people, including German tourists, have been killed after a cable car disconnected and fell near the summit of the Mottarone mountain near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.

German tourists among 13 dead in Italy cable car accident
The local emergency services published this photograph of the wreckage. Photo: Vigili del Fuoco

The accident was announced by Italy’s national fire and rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, at 13.50 on Sunday, with the agency saying over Twitter that a helicopter from the nearby town of Varese was on the scene. 

Italy’s National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps confirmed that there were 13 victims and two seriously injured people.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that German tourists were among the 13 victims.

According to their report, there were 15 passengers inside the car — which can hold 35 people — at the time a cable snapped, sending it tumbling into the forest below. Two seriously injured children, aged nine and five, were airlifted to hospital in Turin. 

The cable car takes tourists and locals from Stresa, a resort town on Lake Maggiore up to a panoramic peak on the Mottarone mountain, reaching some 1,500m above sea level. 

According to the newspaper, the car had been on its way from the lake to the mountain when the accident happened, with rescue operations complicated by the remote forest location where the car landed. 

The cable car had reopened on April 24th after the end of the second lockdown, and had undergone extensive renovations and refurbishments in 2016, which involved the cable undergoing magnetic particle inspection (MPI) to search for any defects. 

Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Twitter that he expressed his “condolences to the families of the victims, with special thoughts for the seriously injured children and their families”.

Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini told Italy’s Tg1 a commission of inquiry would be established, according to Corriere della Sera: “Our thoughts go out to those involved. The Ministry has initiated procedures to set up a commission and initiate checks on the controls carried out on the infrastructure.”

“Tomorrow morning I will be in Stresa on Lake Maggiore to meet the prefect and other authorities to decide what to do,” he said.

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