Viareggio an Italian train inferno
Viareggio, treno deraglia esplodendo,
Esplosione Treno Merci a ViareggioAt least 16 people have been killed in northern Italy, after a freight train carrying gas derailed and crashed into several homes.
Many of the victims were asleep when the train ploughed into their homes, triggering an explosion.
At least 16 people were killed and more than 36 others injured when the freight train exploded in Viareggio northern Italy late Monday. The train was transporting liquefied petroleum gas when one of the carriages exploded just before midnight near the town of Viareggio, north of Pisa in the country's northwest.
Several carriages left the tracks and crashed into nearby homes, setting off an inferno in the seaside town in the middle of the night.
About a thousand people were evacuated from the area just after the train derailed and people were reportedly thrown from their beds by the force of the explosion near the train station of Viareggio, about 350 km north of Rome.
Many of the victims died when their houses collapsed and there were fears some people were still trapped under the rubble on Tuesday.