The death toll from a head-on
commuter train collision yesterday in the southern Puglia region
has risen to 23 dead and 50 injured, sources said Wednesday.
The prefect of the towns of Andria, Barletta and Trani,
Clara Minerva, added that four people were still missing.
"There are 23 bodies at the Bari morgue," she said.
"Further human remains have been recovered and are in the
process of being identified through DNA". A total of 27 people
have been claimed as missing, leaving four unaccounted for,
Minerva said.
Local prosecutors have launched a multiple manslaughter
probe into the crash that occurred on a single track between the
towns of Andria and Corato, and may have been caused by human
error.
Rescuers and canine units worked all night and will carry on
through the day in search of other survivors or victims who may
still be trapped in the twisted metal of the wreck.
Family members of victims of a fatal train collision in
Puglia on Wednesday started identifying the dead at the morgue
in the city of Bari. Moments of tension were reported early in
the morning when morgue officials tried to limit access to two
relatives per victim in the identification process. After
protests and cries of "shame" all relatives present were allowed
in and the situation reportedly went back to normal.
Prefect Minerva said rescuers working since the previous
day in search of other survivors or victims had found human
remains under a locomotive removed from the tracks.
Victims include train driver and Andria native Pasquale
Abbasciano, who was a year away from retirement, and 23-year-old
Giuseppe Zingaro, who had previously been reported missing. One
of the rescuers working at the scene, Marianna Tarantini, also
said the first victims she spotted right after the crash Tuesday
were a mother holding her little daughter in her arms.
"They were lying against an olive tree, the mother was
protecting her little daughter and they were in a fetal
position," she said. "They were the first I found, in the middle
of heads, arms and torsos scattered everywhere under the trees,"
said Tarantini.
Fifteen of the injured are being treated in hospitals in
Andria, Barletta and Bisceglie. Four - Matteo Mascoli, 83,
Raffaele Di Ciommo, 31, Valentina Dell'Olio, 23, and Samuele
Desario, 7 - are reportedly in critical condition.
Local prosecutors have launched a multiple manslaughter
probe into the crash that occurred on a single track between the
towns of Andria and Corato, and may have been caused by human
error. However, Trani State attorney Francesco Giannella, who
will be heading the team investigating the crash, said Wednesday
the probe will look into all possible causes.
"The investigation will not only look into human error, we
must examine all possibilities," he said. Giannella noted that
no one has yet been placed under investigation, although this
might change "in a few hours".
He added investigators will also focus on delays in
renovating the security system, which in that particular stretch
of track relied on an old telephone alert system used to inform
station masters of trains travelling on the single track.
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