Pope mourns those killed in Italy cable car crash and prays for ‘little Eitan’

A sheet covers the debris of a cable car after Sunday’s disaster, in Stresa, northern Italy. (Piero Cruciatti/LaPresse via AP)

Pope Francis offered prayers on Tuesday for “little Eitan”, the lone survivor of the cable car disaster in northern Italy that left 14 people dead when the cabin plunged to the ground after the lead cable snapped and the emergency brake failed to engage.

The pope sent a telegram to the local bishop offering his condolences to the families of the dead who, he said, were “tragically lost while immersed in the marvels of creation”.