More photographs coming through from the scene. Some here showing the base of the Stresa-Mottarone line, which the crashed cab had been travelling on.

Italian media are reporting the cable car had undergone maintenance in 2016.

Corriere della Sera, a national newspaper in Italy, report the president of the Italian Association of Cableway Operators (Anef) as saying: “The plant was completely safe.”

The paper reports the cable car had been dismantled and reassembled during renovations. The cable was also reportedly examined at the time.

The Independent has asked Anef for further details.

Italian police have released photos from the crash site showing officers at the scene.

Enrico Giovannini, Italy’s minister of sustainable infrastructure and mobility issued the following statement in response to the crash:

“A terrible tragedy, I have already spoken with the prefect and the director of the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection.

“We are trying to understand what has happened, but it is a truly terrible tragedy.”

Two children have been airlifted to hospital after the crash, Italy’s alpine rescue service said.

Walter Milan, a spokesman for the service, confirmed that the children had been taken to a paediatric hospital in the city of Turin.

Italy’s fire and rescue service said local firefighters were on the scene of the crash. The service confirmed people had died, but said the current toll of nine was “provisional”.

Emergency responders said that nine people have been killed after a cable car plunged to the ground on a mountainside in the country’s north.

Another three people have been taken to hospital, Italy’s Alpine rescue service said.