Accident: a gas train in Italy derails causing an explosion
Italy gas train explosion kills 12
At least 12 people were killed and 50 injured overnight in Italy when a freight train hauling liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded as it passed their homes, officials said today.
About 1000 people were evacuated following the blast just before midnight yesterday, which shook people from their beds in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio, about 350 kilometres north of Rome.
Thirty-seven people were injured, seriously or very seriously, rescue workers told Reuters, including a two-year-old who was badly burned and was being transferred to a hospital in Florence.
It was Italy's most deadly rail accident since 17 people were killed in January 2005, when a passenger train collided with a freight train near the northern city of Bologna.
Firefighters battled overnight to contain blazes started by the explosion and, as a precaution, were emptying liquefied petroleum gas from other, unexploded tanks in the wrecked train.
GATX Rail Europe, a unit of the US-based GATX Corporation, which owns the rail cars - each one made of a gas tank attached to a wagon - told Reuters it did not know the cause of the explosion and was gathering information from news reports.
Chief financial officer Werner Mitteregger said the tanks being transported on the Italian railways were new.
Television showed the fire spreading down city streets, setting cars and nearby buildings alight. Rescue workers set up along the roadside to provide first aid to burn victims.
At least two children were among the dead, officials said.
State railways said the accident occurred when one carriage derailed, pulling another four with it. Liquefied petroleum gas escaped from a tank on one of the carriages and caught fire.