Two killed and dozens injured after train derails and collides with freight wagon near Lodi

Two rail workers were killed and about 30 people were injured when a high-speed train derailed before dawn on Thursday near Milan, in northern Italy.

The crash occurred just after 5.30am local time near the town of Lodi, about 30 miles (50km) south of Milan.

Lodi’s prefect, Marcello Cardona, told reporters: “It was a serious accident that had a tragic end with the death of two rail workers” onboard the train. He said an investigation was under way.

Cardona said none of the survivors’ injuries were life-threatening and all casualties had been taken to hospital. The Lombardy region’s health department put the number of injured at 31.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Cardona said. There were only 33 people onboard the train, and only one in the first car and two in the second, when the accident occurred.

“I thought I was dead,” a survivor told the local newspaper Liberta from hospital in Piacenza, where he was being treated for minor injuries. “I closed my eyes and prayed.”

The unnamed man in his 20s said he had been travelling with a friend in the second carriage. “The train was going very fast, perhaps 300km per hour. Suddenly, I felt a violent blow. A really loud roar.

“We held hands tightly to avoid falling. The wagon overturned and while waiting for help we went out through a hole to save ourselves.” He said they were stuck on the crashed train for 15 minutes.

Italy’s interior minister has been informed and a prosecutor was sent to the scene. The cause of the accident is as yet unknown. Two helicopters, hundreds of firemen, police and other authorities descended on the open farmland area outside of Lodi.

Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said: “We are greatly saddened by the two deaths, the two rail workers, and we express our solidarity with the families.”

The Milan-Salerno train was en route to Bologna when it came off the tracks. Video images showed ripped metal at the front of the first car, where the engine had separated from the train. The first car was on its side and appeared to be still attached to the rest of the train. The engine car could be seen resting on its side several dozen metres away.

According to initial findings reported by the media, the engine went off the rails and struck a freight wagon on a parallel track before hitting a railway building. Italian media reported that work had been done on the track on Wednesday night.

Cardona said it was premature to jump to conclusions on a link between that work and the accident. “Line maintenance is done continually and it’s much too early to associate the accident to maintenance,” he said.

Italy’s last serious train accident was in January 2018, when three women died and about 100 people were injured when a packed train derailed near Milan due to poor track maintenance.

Managers and employees of Italy’s state railway, RFI, along with two former members of the national railway safety agency were charged with negligent homicide and other crimes.