ROME, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Five young people died when their vehicle fell into a ravine in Italy's mountainous northern Piedmont region shortly after midnight on Wednesday, the National Fire Department said.
"Tragic news from (the town of) Castelmagno, where five youths lost their lives, plummeting in a Land Rover into a ravine," the National Fire Department wrote on Twitter.
"Another four youths were rescued by firefighters," the Twitter post said.
According to local daily Quotidiano Piemontese, the youths, all of them Italian and some local residents, were traveling in a Land Rover that fell 200 meters down the ravine.
It identified the victims as the driver, aged 24, a 16-year-old girl, two brothers aged 17 and 11, and a 14-year-old boy.
Two 17-year-old girls were slightly injured, while another man aged 24 and a 17-year-old boy were hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the local paper.
The youths had reportedly decided to drive up the mountain to look at the stars, and the accident occurred on the way back, according to Turin-based La Stampa paper, which ran a photo of the mangled Land Rover.
Every year in August, Italians head for higher ground to watch the Perseid meteor shower, which usually peaks around Aug. 10-12. The meteors look like shooting stars, and children are encouraged to make a wish on them.
Castelmagno is located in the Alps mountains in the province of Cuneo in the Italian region of Piedmont. Enditem
