adminMILAN. – At least three people were killed and 10 seriously injured after a packed Italian commuter train derailed yesterday near the northern city of Milan. Italian media quoted witnesses as saying that the regional train began to shake heavily as if it was travelling over rocks, before braking suddenly and derailing.
One of the carriages jack-knifed across the track, bent almost at a right angle. “Unfortunately the train was full, and if the current toll ends up staying as it is it would almost be a miracle. The train was packed with commuters and students,” said Milan’s police commissioner Marcello Cardona.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Milan prosecutors have opened a probe, and investigators have begun questioning the driver, Italian media said.
Rescuers spent the morning searching the wreckage for victims and firefighters said 10 people were seriously injured, including five in a life-threatening condition.
According to regional emergency services in Milan, another 100 people sustained light injuries in the incident, which took place at around 7 am (0600 GMT) near Segrate in Milan’s northeastern suburbs.
The derailment is the most serious rail accident in Italy since 23 people were killed in a high-speed head-on collision between two passenger trains in July 2016 in the southern Puglia region. – AFP
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