MILAN—Two Italian commuter trains collided head-on Tuesday in the southern region of Puglia, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores more, officials said. At least two passengers were pulled alive from the crumpled wreckage as the rescue operation ground on in the scorching heat.
Railway police Commander Giancarlo Conticchio told Sky TG24 said that the number of dead was 22 with 43 people injured, adding that the final toll could still be higher.
“Surely one of the two trains shouldn’t have been there. And surely there was an error. We need to determine the cause of the error,” Conticchio said.
Another official stressed the final toll would not be known until the train cars had been pulled apart; a giant crane arrived at the scene to remove the mangled debris.
The two trains, each with four cars, collided head-on in an olive grove on flat terrain between the towns of Andria and Corato on a line with just a single track. The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. some 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the Puglia regional capital, Bari.
“It’s a disaster as if an airplane fell,” Corato Mayor Massimo Mazzilli said on his Facebook page, where he posted photos of the crash.
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi pledged a thorough investigation and returned to Rome from Milan to monitor the situation. His transport minister, Graziano Delrio, as well as local prosecutors were at the scene.
“We must begin to understand the causes of this tragedy that has saddened the whole country,” Delrio said at the site, announcing a commission of inquiry. “The crash was certainly violent. Extremely violent.”
