KRGV.com

ROME (AP) The Russian consul general in Italy says Italian authorities suspect a deadly snowmobile accident on a ski slope was caused by excessive speed but they're also checking into a possible mechanical issue.

Six Russian tourists died and two were injured when a snowmobile reportedly pulling a sled on a night run down an unlit slope on Mount Cermis, slammed into a fence and flipped over into a ditch.

Officials say the dead include four men and two women.

In 1998, a U.S. Marine jet, flying low on a training run from a nearby air base, accidently sliced a ski gondola's cable on Mount Cermis, sending the cable car crashing to the ground and claiming 20 lives.