Eitan Biran: Italy investigates 'kidnap' of cable car crash survivor

The grandfather of a six-year-old boy who was the sole survivor of a cable car crash in Italy has been placed under investigation for the alleged kidnapping of his grandson.

Shmulik Peleg is accused of taking Eitan Biran to Israel on Sunday.

Eitan had been staying with a paternal aunt in Italy.

His parents, younger brother and two great grandparents were among 14 people killed when their cable car plunged to the ground in northern Italy last May.

• Outrage in Italy after cable car crash video aired

Eitan's family had lived in Italy for several years before the crash in the Mottarone mountain area.

His paternal aunt Aya Biran-Nirko was granted custody of Eitan in June after he was released from hospital.

On Saturday, Eitan was taken out for the day by Mr Peleg, his maternal grandfather who had moved to Italy after the crash and had visitation rights.

He reportedly then took Eitan out of the country on a private jet, using the child's Israeli passport. Israeli diplomats have since confirmed his arrival in the country.

"We did not kidnap Eitan... we brought him home," Eitan's maternal aunt Gali Peleg, who had filed for adoption in August, told Israel's Radio 103FM on Sunday. She claimed Eitan's parents had wanted to return to Israel prior to the crash and that the boy was being held hostage in Italy.

Aya Biran-Nirko called it "another tragedy for Eitan", saying he "thought he was going out to buy toys with his grandfather". She added: "I'm sure the Israeli authorities will cooperate to bring him back".

Prosecutors in the northern city of Pavia on Monday opened an investigation of aggravated kidnapping by Mr Peleg, and called for the boy's return under the Hague Convention on Children's Rights.

Lawyers for Mr Peleg were quoted as saying that their client had "acted on impulse" amid concerns that the maternal relatives were being denied access to the boy and he was receiving inadequate medical care.

• Video suggests cable car brake disabled for years

• Italy probes cause of fatal cable car accident

An investigation into the cause of May's crash near the town of Stresa, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, is still under way, but prosecutors believe the car's emergency brakes had been intentionally disabled.

When the main cable holding the car snapped, there was nothing to stop it reversing at over 100km/h (62mph) on a support cable, passing a support pylon and then plummeting to the ground and rolling down the mountain.

Thirteen people died at the scene, including a two-year-old child, while another child died later in hospital.

A number of people from the company that operated the cable car are currently under investigation over the incident.

A technician has admitted installing a fork-shaped bracket to deactivate the emergency brake, which had reportedly been malfunctioning, earlier this year.

However, a cable car expert has alleged that earlier videos he took suggest the emergency brake was already disabled in 2014.