At least 14 killed in Italian trains collision
Passenger and freight trains collided in thick fog in northern Italy today, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens.
The crash, on a line between Bologna and Verona, left several carriages in a wreck of buckled metal. At least one carriage was lifted high into the air by the force of the collision.
The crash happened in a rural area of Bolognina di Crevalcore, 25 miles north of Bologna.
As workers pulled bodies from the wreckage and lay them in body bags in a misty field, rescue officials said 14 people were killed and 80 injured, several of them seriously.
The cause of the crash was not clear, but officials said there was thick fog at the time of the collision. The Transport Ministry has opened an investigation.
Ambulances rushed to the site, and a helicopter was sent from Rome. Several seriously injured people were taken to a hospital in Bologna, and about 50 people were treated on-site for minor injuries.
The Civil Defence department said around 100 people were on board the passenger train, which was a local service travelling south from Verona to Bologna. The freighter was headed north from Rome to San Zeno Falzano.
Though most train accidents in Italy are minor, the country has occasionally seen deadly train crashes. The most recent was in July 2002, when a train from Palermo to Messina derailed in north-eastern Sicily, killing at least eight people.
Europe’s most recent deadly train crash was in November in Britain. Seven people were killed when a train struck a car on a level crossing in Berkshire.
