Deaths reported as train derails near Milan
January 25, 2018
Rescue officials said at least three people died and several were seriously injured in a railway accident near Italy's northern city of Milan when a regional train derailed on Thursday morning.
"There are between three and five dead in the accident from what we know at the moment," a fire official told the news agency Reuters.
More than 100 people sustained light injures, according to the regional emergency official Cristina Corbetta.
Helicopters were deployed to the scene near the Pioltello Limito station, outside Milan.
Rescue teams worked for hours to pull people out of the wrecked carriages. Milan police chief Marcello Cardona said the commuter train was "packed."
"Unfortunately the train was full, and if the current toll ends up staying as it is it would almost be a miracle," Cardona said. "The train was packed with commuters and students."
Italy's ANSA news agency cited the railway company in reporting that there were about 350 people on the train's four carriages. Survivors told Italian media that the train had started to shake heavily as if traveling over rocks before suddenly braking and derailing.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, although the police said preliminary information pointed to either a collapse of the tracks or a problem with a track switch.
The commuter train was heading from the city of Cremona toward Milan. The accident caused delays along the railways connecting Milan and Venice, local media reports.
dj/rt (Reuters, AFP, dpa)