A cable car with 11 people aboard has fallen from a mountain in northern Italy, killing at least eight.
Two children were taken by air ambulance to hospital in Turin following the tragedy at Lake Maggiore, Piedmont, emergency services said.
Reports say the carriage dropped from its cable at the summit of the 1,491-tall Mottarone mountain in Italy's Western Alps.
The Stresa Mottarone connects Maggiore Lake with the mountain.
It takes tourists and locals from the famous town of Stresa, on the water, up almost 1,400m above sea level to the top of the Mottarone mountain in 20 minutes.
"Serious accident on the Stresa-Mottarone cable car. Alpine rescue, and other rescue teams on site.
"Two helicopter ambulances intervened," the national alpine rescue service said on Twitter.
Italian news ageny ANSA said the cable car carried 11 people and that two children had been brought by helicopter to a hospital in the northern city of Turin.
No-one at the Alpine rescue service was immediately available to give further details, the Reuters news agency said.
Earlier reports said at least five had lost their lives in the early Sunday afternoon tragedy.
The death toll has since risen to eight, according to ANSA.
According to Sky News the rescue effort has been hampered by the terrain as the cable car was believed to have fallen into a difficult to access wooded area.
A helicopter flew to the scene to help with the rescue effort, emergency services said.
The crews remain on site.
Reports say the mountain had only just reopened after coronavirus lockdown closures.
