A school business manager who died alongside her husband in a cable car crash in southern Italy was “much loved and highly respected”, the school said.
Graeme Winn, 65, and Elaine Winn, 58, were among the four people who died in the crash on Thursday at Monte Faito in the town of Castellammare di Stabia near Naples, according to a spokesman for the local mayor’s office.
It is believed that the wire snapped and the brakes failed when they were 20 seconds away from arriving at the top, causing the cable car containing the couple, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, to fall to the ground.
An Israeli national and the Italian driver of the cable car also died, while a fifth person was seriously injured in the incident, it was reported.
Mrs Winn, who was part of a local bikers’ group along with her husband, was a school business manager at Welland Park Academy, which said it was “deeply saddened” after the crash.
A Welland Park Academy spokesperson said: “Elaine was a much loved and highly respected member of our school community. Her professionalism, warmth, and unwavering dedication to school life touched the lives of students, staff, and families alike.
“She gave so much to the school beyond her role, and many students will have fond memories of her from the school trips she supported over the years. The care and kindness she showed to everyone in our community means her loss will be felt deeply by us all.
“We are currently supporting our staff and preparing to support our students as they return from the Easter break. Plans are also being made to commemorate Elaine’s life in a meaningful way within the school.
“We kindly ask that the privacy of Elaine’s family, and that of our school community, be respected as we come to terms with this loss.”
A spokesman for Luigi Vicinanza Sindaco, the mayor of Castellammare, said another cable car was descending when its brakes switched on as “there was something that wasn’t working” and safety systems were triggered.
He went on: “We are hypothesising that as the cable cars were moving at the same time. The one at the top was meant to arrive, (it) was around 20 to 25 seconds from the entrance of the station at the top, except the wire broke and the brake did not work because the cabin started to move backwards as it was on a slope.
“It went backwards and ended up on a pylon and it fell.
“It didn’t fall perpendicular at 25 metres, it went a lot further back.
“The first thing that would’ve happened is that the wire snapped and then the brakes didn’t work.
“At the moment it’s all a hypothesis that the wire snapped and the brakes system did not start.”
Ten people had to be taken down from the other cable car, the spokesman said.
An investigation over multiple manslaughter and culpable disaster charges has been opened by Italian prosecutors, according to reports
The mayor said on Facebook there will be a day of mourning and all events for the Easter holiday cancelled.
Firefighters, police and Italy’s alpine rescue were sent to the scene, which is between the popular tourist areas of Pompeii and Sorrento.
The EAV public transport firm, which runs the cable car, said the service had reopened a week ago with all required safety conditions.
Checks were being carried out by investigators on the cable car and the possibility that strong wind was among the causes of the incident.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences from Washington DC, where she was meeting US President Donald Trump.
A British tourist said she saw people being taken down from one cable car in a harness after the incident.
Megan Pacey, 50, from London, was with her husband, James Ross, and their children Hannah, 10, and Luke, eight, when they saw a suspended cable car.
She said: “We were within a minute or two of (the incident) happening.
“They started winching people down from the cable car. We watched the first couple of people come down in a harness and as we left, there was a sense of urgency that had kicked in.”
She said she saw flowers and candles on the steps outside the railway station on Friday and emergency services remained at the scene.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities.”
