Milan train crash: Horrific rush-hour derailment in Italy – at least 4 dead, 100 injured

A TRAIN crash in Milan has left four people dead and more than 100 injured after the rush-hour service derailed in the Italian city this morning.

The train, which was full of commuters, derailed between Treviglio and Pioltello on the outskirts of the Italian city at around 7 am this morning.

At least 13 of the injured are said to be in a serious condition and have been taken to nearby hospitals.

Several people were rescued from the wreckage and dozens of emergency service personnel are on the scene.

Witnesses said the train trembled and shook shortly before the accident.

A spokesman for state-owned train firm Ferrovie Dello Stato confirmed that an accident had occurred in Pioltello, around 40km from central Milan.

Milan train derailment crash — **PHOTO: ANSA.IT•WCN NEWS**

Milan train derails- Firefighters try to rescue trapped passengers

Passenger Tatiana, 32, told local media: “Before we heard a great noise of scrap metal under the car, pebbles, something moving, then the train began to swerve very violently, it seemed to be on a roller coaster.

“The lights went out, it was still dark outside and nothing could be understood.

“In the wagon people began to scream, cry – I hugged Luca, a travelling companion I meet every morning. To us, who were on the last car went well, only a few small wounds, but those in front of us, in the penultimate, were crushed like sardines.”

This image reveals the extent of the devastation

Firefighters and police officers work around derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan

Pictures from the scene show crumpled carriages while others show what appears to be blood on the side of the train.

Firefighters can also be seen trying to free people from the wreckage.

Other images reveal injured passengers being carried away from the scene while others show first responders trying to help victims at the side of the railway line.

A number of rail services in the city were delayed or suspended while emergency services deal with the incident.

The cause of the incident remains unknown, but images from the scene appear to show that the derailed carriages were in the centre of the train.

Italian Railway Network technicians are carrying out checks along the line to try to determine the cause of the incident.

The red circle show where the train derailed, in the outskirts of the city police claim a problem with a track switch may have been the cause of the fatal accident.

The train was travelling at normal speed when the accident happened, a spokesperson for Trenord, which operated the service, told Reuters news agency.This morning’s fatal incident is the latest involving Italy’s increasingly antiquated rail system.

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In July 2016, 23 people were killed when two trains collided on a single track in an olive grove in Puglia, southeastern Italy.

Seven years earlier in 2009, 32 people were killed when a freight train carrying liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded in Viareggio, in central Italy’s Tuscany region.