Funerals for Italian victims of cable car tragedy

Funerals were held in Italy on Thursday for the victims of the cable car disaster in northern Italy that left 14 people dead.

The funeral of Silvia Malnati, 27, and Alessandro Merlo, 29, an Italian couple killed in the disaster, took place in San Fermo.

Serena Cosentino, 27, also Italian, was laid to rest in Diamante.

After the lead cable broke, the cabin reeled back down the line until it hit the pylon and pulled off entirely.

It crashed to the ground and rolled over down the mountainside until it came to rest against some trees.

Fourteen people were killed; the lone survivor, a 5-year-old boy, remains hospitalized.

The cable car line reopened from lockdown April 26 and was bringing sightseers to the top of the Mottarone peak overlooking Lake Maggiore on the first sunny Sunday since then.

Police arrested three people Wednesday, saying workers placed a clamp on the emergency brake to deactivate it as a patchwork repair - one that prevented the brake from engaging when the lead cable snapped.

The revelations, obtained during an overnight police interrogation of the suspects, turned the horror of the disaster into outrage, given the tragedy appeared to have been entirely preventable.

The Mayor of Stresa, Marcella Severin, said the news was "more grief" for the town already shaken by the disaster.

"We always beg the question, 'Could it have been avoided?' Yes, unfortunately it could have been avoided," she said after a memorial service for the victims.