One of the doctors treating 5-year-old Eitan Biran, who was seriously injured in a cable car crash in the Italian Alps, said Tuesday evening that they will soon wake him up from an induced coma as he showed signs of recovery and started breathing independently.
Meanwhile, a rabbinical ceremony was held at the Castelli Hospital in the town of Verbania near the crash site before the bodies of Biran's family, who perished in the disaster, were flown for burial in Israel.
Footage from the car cable cabin's crash site
(Video: Reuters)
Among the 14 casualties in the tragic event were Biran's father Amit (30), his mother Tal (26), his younger brother Tom (2) and his great-grandfather Yitzhak Izzy Cohen (81) and his wife Barbara Koninsky Cohen (71).
Nine more people have died in the crash, including four couples and a five-year-old child.
Pope Francis asked to send his prayers to "little Eitan," who had managed to survive the severe accident. He also asked to express his condolences to the families of the victims.
Earlier Tuesday, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera revealed new details about the disaster that took place on Sunday.
According to a report, the cable car traveled at a speed of 100 km/h (60mph) and plunged from a height of 54 meters (180 feet). Investigators do not rule out the possibility that the tragedy was the result of human error.
Currently, investigators are not focusing on any particular person, but intend to examine whether the maintenance work and safety checks that were performed on the cabin just days before the crash were carried out negligently.
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation said that security camera footage shows the cabin starting to bounce before sliding backward. She also noted that the same sky tram got stuck the day before the crash and technicians had to step in. It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were connected.