Italian prosecutors have launched an abduction investigation Monday against the grandfather of a 6-year-old Israeli boy who was the sole survivor in a cable car disaster earlier in May.
Pavia Mayor Mario Fracassi announced on Monday evening that the Pavia prosecutor has opened a probe into Eitan Biran’s possible kidnapping.
Eitan’s parents, his two-year-old brother, and two of his great-grandparents were among 14 people who died in the Stresa-Mottarone aerial tramway crash near Lake Maggiore in northern Italy last May 23.
Eitan received weeks of treatment for critical injuries and was released from a hospital in Turin in June.
Italian youth court officials ruled he could live with his paternal aunt near Pavia.
Eitan’s aunt, Aya Biran-Nirko, told reporters on Sunday that Eitan’s maternal grandfather, Shmuel Peleg, took the boy out during an agreed visit on Saturday and flew him to Israel without permission.
Gali Peleg, a sister of Eitan’s late mother, denied the allegations in Israel’s 103 FM radio station saying that Eitan was not abducted but was brought at home.
Biran-Nirko reportedly received a message from the Pelegs’ lawyer confirming that Eitan had arrived in Israel.