The crash site in Apulia region. The two trains had four carriages each collided while travelling on the same track. (Photo: Italian Fire Fighters)
The crash site in Apulia region. The two trains having four carriages each, collided while travelling on the same track. (Photo: Italian Firefighters)

At least twenty people have been confirmed dead and dozens more injured in a tragic rail accident which occured today in a rural area in Southeastern Italy. Emergency teams have responded and are performing rescue operations. Each train had four carriages.

The trains collided while travelling at high speed on the same track. The accident is said to have occured in the Apulian region between the coastal towns of Bari and Barletta. The mayor of Corato, a town in the Bari province,  Massimo Mazzilli described the damage as so extensive that it looked like a plane crash.

Italian firefighters worked under the harsh summer heat after the crash, which happened at around 11.30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. ET)), scrambling through the wreckage and shattered carriages in search of victims. Luca Cari, a fire service spokesperson has said: “The rescue is complicated because this happened in the middle of the countryside.”

The Italian Transport Ministry said it was deploying investigators to uncover what caused the accident as no immediate cause has been established.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi who was supposed to be in Apulia today, expressed sadness at the tragedy and said: “We won’t stop until we get a clear explanation over what happened.”