Two Italian commuter trains collided head-on Tuesday in the southern region of Puglia, killing at least 22 people and injuring scores more, officials said. At least two passengers were pulled alive from the crumpled wreckage as the rescue operation ground on in the scorching heat.
Commander Giancarlo Conticchio told Sky TG24 said the number of injured is 43, and that there could still be changes in the final toll.
Giuseppe Corrado, vice president of the province of Andria, told reporters at the scene that the local hospital needed blood. Another official stressed the final toll would not be known until the train cars had been pulled apart; a giant crane arrived at the scene to remove the mangled debris.
The two trains, each with four cars, collided head-on in an olive grove on flat terrain between the towns of Andria and Corato on a line with just a single track. The accident occurred around 11:30am some 50 kilometres northwest of the Puglia regional capital, Bari.
"It's a disaster as if an airplane fell," Corato Mayor Massimo Mazzilli said on his Facebook page, where he posted photos of the crash.