The emergency braking system failed on the cable car in Piedmont that plunged to the ground on Sunday, killing 14 people, Olimpia Bossi, the chief prosecutor of the city of Verbania, told reporters on Monday.
It seems that the brakes should have held the car steady after one of the cables broke.
Instead the car seems to have slid back until it hit a pylon and then plunged to the ground.
The cable car, which had a maximum capacity of 35, connected the Lake Maggiore resort of Stresa to the summit of the Mottarone mountain at some 1,500 metres above sea level.
Stresa declared Monday a day of mourning in the town.
Five families have been destroyed by the disaster.
The only survivor, a five-year-old boy, is fighting for his life in hospital.
Three of the five families were resident in Lombardy, including one of Israeli origin, while one was from Emilia Romagna and one from Calabria .
The victims of Israeli origin were a married couple and their two-year-old child, who died along with an elderly couple, the woman's grandparents.
Their five-year-old son is the survivor.
The boy's aunt said Monday that she found out about the disaster when she started receiving Whatsapp messages containing condolences and, at first, she did not understand why.
A five-year-old Italian child and his parents also died.
The other victims were three couples.
A probe into culpable homicide and culpable disaster has been opened.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Enrico Giovannini said it was a day of "great sadness" for the whole nation after holding a meeting on the disaster with Civil Protection Chief Fabrizio Curcio, Piedmont Governor Alberto Cirio and Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino.
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