The wreckage of the cable car after it collapsed in the Piedmont region of northern Italy (Luca Bruno/AP)A six-year-old boy who was the sole survivor of a cable car crash in northern Italy earlier this year is at the centre of a custody battle between his maternal grandparents in Israel and his paternal relatives in Italy. Fourteen people, including Eitan Biran’s parents and younger sibling, died when the car slammed into a mountainside on May 23 after the cable broke. But the aunt, Aya Biran, told reporters on Sunday that the previous day, Eitan’s maternal grandfather had taken the boy on an agreed day visit, then flew him without permission to Israel. But a sister of Eitan’s late mother denied that the boy had been snatched from Italy. “I am certain and full of hope” that Israeli and Italian authorities will work together “to ensure his return home” to Italy, Ms Biran told reporters.

Source: Irish Independent September 12, 2021 18:45 UTC