Mother dies in cable car horror after getting snagged while loading luggage, clinging on while dragged 50 yards out over Italian valley then falling 500ft to her death in front of her husband and two children

A mother-of-two has died after she became caught on a cable car system and was dragged over a ravine before falling 500ft to her death in front of her husband and children, Italian media reports.

The woman, named as Margherita Lega, had reportedly been hiking with her family in Calasca Castiglione in the Italian Alps when the incident happened at around 11am today. 

The 41-year-old had been loading luggage onto the teleferica machine - used to move heavy objects rather than people - when she became snagged on the contraption and it switched on.

It pulled the woman more than 50 yards over a cliff edge as she clung on, before she was no longer able to hold her weight and plunged to her death.

Her children are being looked after while her husband was taken to the local police station following the incident earlier today, which is now being investigated.

More than 100 emergency personnel including firefighters, police and mountain rescue teams attended the scene.

With the help of a helicopter and climbers on the ground, they eventually located the woman's body in the valley.

Alpine rescue crewmembers recovered her body by winching themselves down from the helicopter and pulling the woman out of the ravine by air.

Prosecutors reportedly sealed off the teleferica as they look into whether all the correct safety measures were observed at the site.

The incident took place in the Anzasca Valley, a popular hiking area in the Piedmont northeast of Turin.

Ms Lega is said to have been from Fiavè, a small town in Italy's Trento region.