20 dead and scores injured in train crash in Bari, Italy
Two trains travelling on a single-track line collided at around 11:30am local time
Updated : 14:16
A devastating train crash in the Puglia region in Italy has left at least 20 people dead and scores injured, according to reports.
The trains were travelling on a single-track line near the town of Bari on Tuesday morning at around 11:30 when they collided, leaving chaotic wreckage in the area.
"Some of the cars are completely crumpled and the rescuers are extracting people from the metal, many of them injured," Riccardo Zingaro, the chief of the local police in Andria, told ANSA at the scene.
News reports said people at the scene were trying to rescue people by pulling victims from the rubble, including a small child who was alive and taken to hospital by helicopter.
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi referred to the accident as a "moment of tears".
"I think there are many dead," Riccardo Zingaro, a fire commander in the area told Rai TV.
Some of the carriages were badly damaged, he said. There are fears the number of deaths could rise further.