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| This aerial handout photo shows what is left of two commuters trains after their head-on collision in the southern region of Puglia, July 12, 2016. (Italian Firefighter Press Office via AP) |
MILAN — Two Italian commuter trains collided Tuesday in the southern region of Puglia, killing 20 people, a regional official said.
Dozens of others were injured when the two trains, each with four cars, collided head-on near the town of Andria on a line with just a single track, according to news agency ANSA and Sky TG24.
An official identified by Sky TG24 as the president of the province of Andria said that rescue operations were continuing.
The official said a boy, about 7, was injured, but not in danger of dying.
He appealed for blood donations and said: "There could still be someone in the wreckage."
A still photo of the crash showed cars crumpled together and forced off the tracks at sharp angles. News reports said rescue workers were pulling victims from the rubble, including a small child who was alive. Video images showed ambulances responding to the scene with other rescue workers.
"Some of the cars are completely crumpled and the rescuers are extracting people from the metal, many of them injured," Riccardo Zingaro, the chief of the local police in Andria, told ANSA at the scene.
National police and Carabinieri couldn't immediately give details about the extent of the crash, saying they were in the middle of responding.
Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, said the train crash "is a moment of tears" and pledged not to stop until a cause was determined.
Renzi spoke in Milan but was returning to Rome to monitor the situation.
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| Crumpled wagon cars are seen after after two commuter trains collided head-on near the town of Andria, in the southern region of Puglia, killing several people, July 12, 2016. (Italian Firefighter Press Office via AP) |
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| Italian firefighters Vigili del Fuoco inspect the wreckage of two commuter trains after their head-on collision in the southern region of Puglia, killing several people, July 12, 2016. (Italian Firefighter Press Office via AP) |
