Italian relatives want custody of Israeli boy in cable car accident
The Italian relatives of a 6-year-old boy who was the sole
survivor of a cable car crash in northern Italy said Monday they are working to
secure his return from Israel as Italian authorities opened a probe into his
possible kidnapping.
Eitan Biran is at the center of a bitter custody battle
between his maternal grandparents in Israel and his paternal relatives in
Italy. His Italian relatives claim the boy was flown without their permission
to Israel over the weekend. Eitan and his parents were living in Italy at the
time of the accident.
Fourteen people, including Eitan's parents and younger
sibling, died when the cable car slammed into a mountainside on May 23 after
the cable broke. After he was released from a Turin hospital following weeks of
treatment for critical injuries, Italian juvenile court officials ruled the
child could live with a paternal aunt near Pavia, in northern Italy.
Pavia Mayor Mario Fracassi said Monday evening the Pavia
prosecutor has opened a probe into Biran's possible kidnapping, Italian news
agency LaPresse reported. He gave no additional details.
Aya Biran, Eitan's aunt, told reporters Sunday that the
boy's maternal grandfather Shmulik Peleg had taken him on an agreed-upon day
visit, then flew him without permission to Israel.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera said the grandfather drove
Eitan in a rented car to Lugano, Switzerland, where they boarded a chartered
flight to Tel Aviv.
The boy's relatives in Israel have denied Eitan was abducted
and insist they are working in the boy's interest.
His uncle in Italy, Or Nirko, went on a Hebrew media blitz
Monday, saying that Eitan,s home was in Italy and that his family was doing
everything to ensure his safe return.
The grandfather "brutally tore him away" from his
family in Italy, Nirko told Israel's Channel 13. He said Eitan speaks some
Hebrew, but his primary language is Italian.
"He doesn't have friends in Israel. There's nothing
that fixes him to the place. He's been going to school in Italy for four
years," Nirko told Israel's 103FM radio station. "The one place he
calls home as of today is the home of me and my wife Aya and our two
daughters."
Nirko said the family was in contact with the Israeli
ambassador to Italy and Israeli and Italian authorities.
Italy's foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, asked by reporters
on Monday about the boy's case, said: "We're looking into what happened in
order to then intervene."
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