Freight train derails in Italy, kills 12, burns 50

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By Marta Falconi ASSOCIATED PRESS

VIAREGGIO, Italy (AP) -- A freight train derailed and plowed into houses in a small Italian town, setting off an explosion and fire that killed at least 12 people -- many as they slept in their homes -- and injured at least 50, officials said Tuesday.

The 14-car train was traveling from the northern city of La Spezia to Pisa when a rear car derailed and crashed into a residential neighborhood beside the train station in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio just before midnight Monday.

A train car filled with liquefied natural gas exploded, collapsing five buildings and setting fire to a vast area. Homes crumbled or burned, killing residents as they slept.

The exact death toll was unclear as hundreds of rescuers searched through the rubble for survivors.

Guido Bertolaso, the chief of the Civil Protection Department, told reporters at the scene that 12 people had been killed, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies said. He said four people were missing.

Gennaro Tornatore, a spokesman for the firefighters, said 15 people had died, while an official with the hospital in Viareggio, Stefano Pasquinucci, said the death toll stood at 16.

Many of the injured suffered severe burns.

"We saw a ball of fire rising up to the sky," said witness Gianfranco Bini, who lives in a building overlooking the station. "We heard three big rumbles, like bombs. It looked like war had broken out."

His son, Gianni Bini, said he saw a truck driver running away on fire.

"This truck was passing by ... when it was hit by the heat wave and I saw the driver ablaze, getting off and walking away," he said.