A boat carrying about 20 people, who were celebrating someone’s birthday, capsized when a sudden change in the weather and strong winds hit them. The outcome of this disaster was four dead among the revelers who drowned in Lake Maggiore, which is popular with tourists in northern Italy.
Four people, including two intelligence agents and a retired Israeli secret security officer, were killed when a tourist boat capsized in strong winds in Lake Maggiore, northern Italy.
The 16-metre long boat capsized on Sunday evening off Lisanza at the southern end of the lake when a storm suddenly hit. “Four bodies have been found,” firefighting spokesman Luca Cari told AFP. Among the victims was an Israeli citizen, “in his fifties,” according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without revealing his identity due to his security past, according to Hebrew sources.
As for the other victims, they are a Russian citizen and two Italian citizens (a man and a woman who are both intelligence agents), according to what the Italian news agency ANSA announced, quoting the authorities in the city of Busto Arsizio, near Milan.
And the president of the Lombardy region, Attilio Fontana, spoke on Sunday evening of a “very serious accident” caused by a “tornado”. Italian media reported that about 20 survivors were picked up by other boats or managed to swim to shore.
The accident occurred around pm. A local resident told reporters: “Actually, it was a beautiful day, but we saw that a big thunderstorm was coming from Milan.” The birthday party was on board the chartered boat about 150 meters from the shore, but strong winds and strong local rains caused the boat to capsize.
A video clip filmed by the firefighters showed a search helicopter flying over raging waters with chairs and rubble floating on it.
Lake Maggiore, located in the south of the Alps, is the second largest lake in Italy and a popular tourist destination. Also, these lake excursions are a popular activity among tourists.
According to media reports, the Russian woman who drowned is the life partner of the boat’s owner and captain. They both lived on the boat and rented it out for parties.
Now, the Public Prosecutor is investigating the reasons why the boat capsized and did not return to port. Reports say the area was hit by bad weather around five o’clock, and there were delays at nearby Milan Malpenza airport as a result.
