Four people have died after a mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground near Naples in southern Italy, emergency services say.

Another person was "extremely seriously injured" in the crash at Mount Faito and was being airlifted to hospital, officials said.

Italian media outlets reported that one of the cables supporting a cabin higher up the mountain had snapped while the cable car was traversing the valley.

The president of the region, Vincenzo De Luca, said the victims were all tourists.

De Luca added that poor weather conditions including fog, wind and rain were making it difficult for rescue workers to reach the area where the cabin had crashed, at a high altitude.

Italian media had earlier on Thursday reported that the cable car line had come to a halt and more than a dozen people had been rescued from a second cabin which had stopped further down the valley.

Footage showed the passengers being winched out in harnesses.

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia - where the cable car was located - said it was believed a traction cable had snapped.

"The emergency brake downstream worked but clearly not the one on the cabin that was about to reach the the top of the hill," he told Italian media.

He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line.

The company which runs the service, the EAV public transport firm, has described the crash as "a tragedy" on social media.