Italian railway explosion kills ten, injures at least 40

30.06.2009 (11:11) | Herald Sun

Ten people are dead after two rail tankers filled with gas exploded in a derailment in the northern Italian city of Viareggio.

Nearby homes and cars were engulfed in flames with 50 people injured in the blast, 37 of them seriously. Several of the injured suffered severe burns.

The explosion came after one of the wagons in a 14-wagon train transporting liquefied petroleum gas came off the rails in the coastal city of 50,000 residents 20km northwest of Pisa just before midnight (8am Australian time).

"The cars flipped over on their sides on the rails and the gas spread out among the nearest houses before exploding," said Antonio Gambardella, commander of the firefighters at the scene.

Small homes line the railway line, and dozens were damaged within a radius of 300 metres from the train.

Two small buildings collapsed from the force of the explosion "and we fear there could be several more people under the rubble," Gambardella told AFP by telephone.

Five people in the one house were killed when their house collapsed in the explosion and a sixth person was riding along the railway line when the train derailed, police spokesman Raffaele Gargiulo told The Associated Press.

Areas near the station were evacuated in case of further explosions.

"I heard the explosion and I went out into the street to find myself faced with flames and a motionless charred body lying on the ground," a witness told the Italian news agency ANSA.

"It was a terrifying scene which I'll never be able to forget," added the witness, who works at a nearby pharmaceutical company.

Gambardella said 300 firefighters from neighbouring regions had been mobilised.

"One of the tasks of the firefighters and notably the specialised chemical accident units is to try to make sure the rest of the tankers don't catch fire and explode," he added.

The train was travelling toward Pisa.

Liquefied petroleum gas is a mixture of propane and butane that can be used as for cooking or as fuel for specially-adapted cars. It is also used in refrigeration.

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