Massimo Amitrano,60,was supposed to be driving the cable car that fell

A cup of coffee saved a cable car driver from dying when its line snapped,killing almost everyone on board in the fall.

It was just 20 seconds from the top of Mount Faito in Naples when it plunged 100ft into a ravine on Thursday.

British couple Graeme and Margaret Elaine Winn,64-year-olds ‘enjoying their retirement with lots of motorbike tours and holidays’,were among the four killed.

Massimo Amitrano,was supposed to have been driving that first cable car of the day.

But a colleague insisted Amitrano enjoy his morning coffee first and let him do it instead.

His colleague Carmine Parlato,59,died in the crash along with three passengers,the Winns and Janan Suliman,25,from Israel. Amitrano believes his life was saved by ‘a miracle’.

‘I felt terrible – Carmine was a dear friend’,Amitrano told The Sunday Times.

Around 700 people travel on this cable car line each day during the busy season (Picture: Metro)

‘But also because it could have been me in that cabin. Without knowing anything,he saved me. It’s divine intervention,how else do you explain it?

‘I really loved Carmine. He was an exquisite person. He had a big heart. Often we would do the long summer shift together.’

There was a thick fog and high winds when the traction cable supporting cars snapped while taking visitors to view Mount Vesuvius,the volcano that buried Pompeii.

It appears to have moved backwards and hit a pylon before it fell,according to a fire service official and spokesperson for the mayor.

Only Ms Suliman’s brother Thaeb,23,survived. He was found in critical condition two hours later.

Carmine Parlato,who drove the first car instead of Massimo Amitrano

A safety brake saved the cable car Amitrano was operating with nine passengers – including a Germany family with three children,aged 15,six and four.

He used the cable attached to the inside to winch them to safety,cutting his hands in the process.

Amitrano said: ‘I let the mother hold the four-year-old child as she descended because she wouldn’t have gone without him. I let them down very slowly.

‘I was the last off because the captain usually doesn’t abandon his ship.’

The cable car had reopened on April 10 after a three-month scheduled closure. It passed safety checks two weeks ago,according to the operator.

The cable care reportedly passed security checks before it reopened a week ago (Picture: Antonio Balasco/LiveMedia/Shutterstock)

Hundreds of tourists use the 3km cable car line each day without trouble.

It’s been nearly 65 years since four people died in when human error caused a cabin to crash on the line in August 1960.

Now there is fear human error was behind this crash too,and that it could scare off tourists. Prosecutors have opened a multiple manslaughter investigation.

‘Commercial airplanes come down,car crashes happen’,Amitrano said. ‘Freak accidents are part of life.’

Flowers and candles were left on the station steps,while tributes were released by those who knew the victims.

Graeme and Elaine Winn were in Italy with a bikers group (Picture: Facebook)

Elaine Winn was ‘much-loved and highly respected’ at Welland Park Academy in Market Harborough,Leicestershire,where she had been the school business manager.

A spokesperson said: ‘Her professionalism,warmth,and unwavering dedication to school life touched the lives of students,staff,and families alike.

‘She gave so much to the school beyond her role,and many students will have fond memories of her from the school trips she supported over the years.

‘The care and kindness she showed to everyone in our community means her loss will be felt deeply by us all.’