Authorities say an out-of-service train killed a group of five workers in northern Italy while they were performing overnight maintenance Thursday, according to multiple reports.
The train was transporting wagons on the Milan-Turin line around midnight and was not in commercial service, The Guardian reported, citing local police. The collision occurred in Brandizzo, a town in Italy’s Piedmont region.
The exact speed at which the train was traveling remains unclear. Authorities had estimated the train was moving at about 100 mph, according to the Associated Press (AP). However, a preliminary investigation by railway police lowered that estimate to about 62 mph. (RELATED: At Least 30 Killed, 60 Injured In Train Derailment Abroad)
Two workers were physically unharmed in the accident and received treatment at a local hospital for shock, AP reported. The train driver was also in shock, according to The Guardian.
Train hits and kills five track maintenance workers in northern Italy https://t.co/KGVxmBvbIl
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 31, 2023
Brandizzo Mayor Paolo Bodoni told local media that a colleague of his described the wreckage at the tracks as a “chilling scene, with human remains scattered over a distance of 300 meters,” the outlet reported. He said investigators believe the train drivers were unaware there were people in the locomotive’s path.
“The first information reaching me refers to a scarcity of communication between the (work) team and who should have signaled the passage of the train, but we need to see what really happened,” Bodoni said, according to AP.
An unnamed woman from Brandizzo spoke to local outlet Corriere della Sera about the collision. “We were at the bar right in front of the station when we heard a loud noise, like an accident, but with something dragging something else behind it,” she said, The Guardian reported.
The incident remains under investigation, Piedmont Gov. Alberto Cirio said. Rail unions in Italy announced their staff members would be holding a half-day strike in the aftermath of the collision, Reuters reported. “Too many tragedies at work are caused by lowering safety standards to speed things up and cut costs,” the head of Italy’s biggest union, Maurizio Landini, argued, according to the outlet.