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At least 10 killed as two trains collide in southern Italy At least 11 killed as two trains collide in southern Italy
(about 1 hour later)
Two trains have collided head on in southern Italy, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens of others. Two trains have collided head-on in southern Italy, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens.
A spokesman for the fire brigade said the two passenger trains collided in the middle of an olive grove. Police said the accident happened on a single stretch of track between the towns of Corato and Andria. The crash happened on a single stretch of track running through an olive grove between the towns of Corato and Andria. Both trains were made up of four carriages.
An aerial image showed train carriages were smashed and crumpled by the collision, with debris spread out on either side of the track. “We are working with dozens of rescue teams to open up the carriages,” said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the fire brigade, adding they had saved a young boy from the wreckage. “The rescue is complicated because this happened in the middle of the countryside.”
The two four-carriage trains were travelling on a line with a single track and collided at about 11.30am. Video images showed ambulances responding to the scene with other rescue workers.
National police and carabinieri could not immediately give details about the extent of the crash. The trains were travelling on a single-track line and collided at about 11.30am on a hot summer’s day in the region of Puglia.
News reports said rescue workers were pulling victims from the rubble, including a small child who was alive and taken to hospital by helicopter. Video images showed ambulances responding to the scene with other rescue workers. An aerial image showed train carriages smashed and crumpled by the collision, with debris spread out on either side of the track into the olive grove. Just four carriages were left standing upright on the rails. A fifth had jumped off the tracks while the other three units appeared pulverised. “It looks like there has been a plane crash,” said the mayor of Corato, Massimo Mazzilli.
The prime minister, Matteo Renzi, sent his condolences to the families of the victims. “We will not stop until we have clarified what happened,” he told reporters. There was no immediate reason given for the collision. “We won’t stop until we get a clear explanation over what happened,” the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, told reporters, cutting short a visit to Milan to return to Rome.
More details soon … The stretch of track is operated by regional rail company Ferrotramviaria. It was not clear how many people had been on the trains.
The last major rail disaster in Italy was in 2009 when a freight train derailed in Viareggio, in the centre of the country, with more than 30 people living close to the tracks killed in the subsequent fire.