The family of the only survivor of an Italian cable car disaster, a six-year old boy, petitioned a Tel Aviv court on Tuesday for his return after his grandfather took him to Israel in a suspected kidnapping, an Israeli TV channel said.
Eitan Biran’s parents, younger brother and 11 other people all died in the crash in northern Italy in May.
The boy moved in with his paternal aunt, Aya Biran, in northern Italy. On Saturday his maternal grandfather, Shmuel Peleg, picked him up for a pre-planned family trip but they never returned, the aunt told reporters.
Italian media said they had driven across the nearby border to Switzerland and were flown by a private jet to Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Channel 13 said the boy’s family in Italy had filed a petition in the Tel Aviv family court for his return. Further details were not immediately available. A court spokesman declined comment citing sensitivities in cases involving minors.
Peleg’s lawyers have acknowledged in a statement that he had taken the boy to Israel. They said Peleg had “acted on impulse” as he was worried about his grandson’s health.
via Reuters
