British couple killed in Naples cable car crash named
Graeme Derek Winn, 65, and his wife Margaret Elaine Winn, 58, were among four people聽who died in the incident on Thursday.
Saturday 19 April 2025 19:01, UK
Two Britons killed in a cable car crash near Naples have been named by Italian media.
Graeme Derek Winn, 65, and his wife Margaret Elaine Winn, 58, were among four people who died in the incident on Thursday, which officials said happened after the cable snapped.
An Israeli woman and an Italian man who was the cable car operator also died, it has been reported.
The only survivor, a second Israeli tourist, was in a stable but critical condition, the Naples hospital treating him said on Friday.
Mrs Winn was initially named by Italian media as Margaret Elaine Winn, but it is understood she was known as Elaine.
She was a school business manager at Welland Park Academy in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, which said it was "deeply saddened" after the crash.
"[Elaine's] professionalism, warmth, and unwavering dedication to school life touched the lives of students, staff, and families alike," said a Welland Park Academy spokesperson.
"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."
Chris Mann - who described Mr and Mrs Winn as his "good friends" - posted on social media that they were "enjoying retirement with lots of motorbike tours and holidays".
"How incredibly sad," he wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said: "We are supporting the families of a British couple who have died in Italy and are in touch with the local authorities."
Nine passengers were helped out of a separate cable car that was stuck mid-air near the foot of the mountain following the incident.
They were freed one by one in a difficult operation using harnesses, footage on RAI television and other media showed.
Italy's alpine rescue, along with firefighters, police and civil protection services, responded to the incident.
It occurred just a week after the cable car, popular for its views of Mount Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples, reopened for the season. It averages around 110,000 visitors each year.
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Umberto De Gregorio, chairman of the EAV public transport company that runs the Mount Faito cable car, described the incident as "a tragedy" and said the service would remain shut "for a long time" following the crash.
He told Sky News the cause of the incident was being investigated, and that before its reopening, the cable car service had undergone three months of tests with checks carried out every morning.
"Everything we had to do was done," he said.
"Evidently something went wrong, we don't know what, whether an exceptional unforeseen event or human error. The investigators will discover all this."
He added: "Furthermore, I knew very well one of the four victims, our employee. He is the brother of my driver - who is also my friend, since we lived together practically every day.
"I knew him and yesterday I saw his heartbroken wife, we hugged each other. There is so much emotion."
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A British tourist described seeing people being taken down from one cable car after the incident.
Megan Pacey, 50, from London, was with her family and witnessed the scene "within a minute or two of (the incident) happening".
"They started winching people down from the cable car," she said.
"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."
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The next day, she saw flowers and candles on the steps outside the railway station and emergency services remained at the scene.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences for the victims and their families and said she was in touch with rescuers.