The bodies of the Israeli victims of the cable car crash that killed 14 people near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy are going to be airlifted to Israel on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Italian doctors at the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin began the process of waking up Eitan Biran, the five-year-old Israeli boy who is the only survivor of the tragedy that killed his father, mother, younger brother and great-grandparents.
“He had a peaceful night and his conditions are stable,” Giovanni La Valle, director of the Città della Salute, the health complex that includes the Regina Margherita Hospital, said according to the Italian daily La Repubblica. “For this reason, the medical team initiated the process of reawakening him through the gradual reduction of the medicines that are keeping him sedated. It will take some time to see some response.”
La Valle added that the hospital’s psychologists are working with the anesthesiologists to be ready to care for the child when he wakes up.
“We feel more optimistic than yesterday,” he said.
However, Dr. Giorgio Ivani, director of the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital said than in spite of “a cautious optimism,” Eitan’s life is still in danger.
The boy’s aunt Aya Biran, also a doctor, who lives in Italy with her husband and their two daughters, is at the side of the child, together with her parents and other relatives who came from Israel.
An update about Eitan’s condition is expected on Wednesday morning.
A few hours later, the bodies of his father Amit Biran, 30, his wife Tal Peleg, 27, their two-year-old son Tom and her grandparents Barbara Cohen Konisky, 71, and Itshak Cohen, 82, will be airlifted to Israel where they are going to be buried. The other victims included four couples, including an Iranian national, and another child.
The Biran family lived in the city of Pavia, where Amit was about to complete his medical degree. Barbara and Itshak were visiting them from Israel.
Amit also worked for the security service of the Jewish community of nearby Milan. Italian Jewish institutions have started a fundraising campaign to help Eitan.
Italian investigators are carrying out an initial probe to understand how the lead cable of the cable car snapped and why a safety brake mechanism failed to activate.
The prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected involuntary manslaughter and negligence. According to initial media, investigators are also exploring the possibility that the crash was caused by a human error.