4 die as tourist boat capsizes in Italy

FOUR people were confirmed dead in a boat accident on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, the fire brigade and Italian news agency ANSA said early on Monday.

Firefighters initially said that three bodies were recovered after a boat capsized at the southern end of the lake near the town of Lisanza, about 50 kilometres north-west of Milan.

News agency ANSA later said that a fourth body was recovered at a depth of 16 metres close to the wreck, adding that no other people were believed to be missing.

A man and a woman from Italy, a Russian woman and a man from Israel died, the public prosecutor’s office of the city of Busto Arsizio near Milan announced, the ANSA news agency reported.

There were around 20 people on the boat, although the exact figure remained unclear on Monday. Five people were taken to hospital, but no one was seriously injured, ANSA reported.

ANSA said the tourist boat, on which the group was celebrating a birthday party, capsized on Sunday due to a sudden whirlwind.

The accident happened in the evening at around 7 pm (1800 GMT). “Actually it was a beautiful day yesterday,” a local resident told reporters. “But we saw that a big thunderstorm was coming from Milan.”

According to the president of the region of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, the 16-metrelong sailing boat had been rented by tourists. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating how the capsizing could have happened and why the boat did not return to the harbour.

The province of Varese, where Sesto Calende is located, was already hit by bad weather at around 5 pm, causing delays at the nearby Milan-Malpensa airport.

The newspaper Corriere della Sera interviewed the rescued passengers, wo said the boat suddenly overturned and capsized.