At least 14 die as train derails, explodes in Italy

updated 3:27 p.m. ET June 30, 2009

VIAREGGIO, Italy - Elia Quiroz was about to go to bed in his home near the railroad station in this Tuscan seaside town when the train rumbled by. His kitchen table started shaking.

"Then I heard an explosion and I went outside," the 32-year-old Italian recalled. "I saw flames as high as 30, 40 meters, and I ran."

A gas-filled train derailed while traveling through a downtown neighborhood around midnight Monday, catching residents in their sleep, and setting off a massive explosion that killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others, most with severe burns.

Death toll figures seesawed on Tuesday, but the Civil Protection eventually put the official count at 14 dead and three missing after the body of a woman was found in her crumbled home. Some 35 of the 50 injured had suffered severe burns.

As rescuers searched through the rubble for survivors, unions and consumer groups denounced what they said is the poor safety record and aging infrastructure of Italy's rail system and questioned sending highly explosive cargo through an inhabited area.

'Ball of fire'
The 14-car train was traveling from the northern city of La Spezia to Pisa when part of the convoy derailed as it passed Viareggio's station.

A car filled with liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, sprung a leak and all it took then was a spark to cause an explosion that collapsed five buildings and set fire to a vast area. Homes crumbled or burned, killing residents as they slept.

"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."

Fabrizio Giovannozzi / AP A firefighter sprays water on the wrecked cars of a freight train in Viareggio, Italy, on Tuesday.

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" in a daze, he said.

Videos uploaded onto YouTube showed a huge plume of fire and smoke towering above Viareggio's low houses. An inferno raged through the night, consuming buildings and cars, while the sound of sirens and explosions pierced the air. TV images showed residents, their bodies blackened by the smoke, being carried away on stretchers.

Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "participation in the pain striking the whole town" and said in a telegram of condolences he was praying for the victims.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's center-right premier, traveled to Viareggio to take charge of the situation and was greeted with boos and cries of "go home" as he arrived at the town's municipality. Tuscany is usually a left-leaning region of Italy.

Gas explosion
About 100 people had lost their homes and a total of 1,000 were evacuated as a precaution, said Viareggio Mayor Luca Lunardini.

As some 300 firefighters extinguished the blaze, teams specialized in dealing with nuclear, biological and chemical threats were brought in to prevent the other gas tanks from exploding.

Some of the victims, including a child, were killed at home, said Raffaele Gargiulo, a police spokesman for the nearby city of Lucca, which is in charge of Viareggio. Two drivers on the road alongside the tracks were also killed.

Others suffered severe burns and died at the hospital.

"The condition of the bodies is such that it will be very difficult to identify them," Gargiulo said.

It was Italy's deadliest train accident since January 2005, when 17 people were killed in a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train. The collision occurred in thick fog on a single track line near Bologna in northern Italy, and led to calls for improved train safety.

MORE FROM EUROPE

Europe Section Front

China, U.S. trade barbs at climate talks   Man convicted in British bomb plot Oslo gears up for Obama visit U.K. slaps 50 percent tax on bankers’ bonuses Zookeeper critical after tiger attack NYT: Climate deal likely to cost trillions of dollars 1788 cognac fetches $37,000 at auction Russia suspends officials after club deaths Half-naked Santas run for charity Europe Section Front   Add Europe headlines to your news reader: