Steph Deschamps / December 13, 2023
A low-speed collision between two trains left 17 people slightly injured on Sunday evening in northeastern Italy, said the fire department and the Italian rail company.
The accident occurred between a Frecciarossa TGV and a regional train on the Bologna-Rimini line, between Faenza and Forlì, the fire department reported on X (ex-Twitter).
At 9:45 pm, they announced that rescue operations had been completed.
The accident resulted in "minor injuries, I would say contusions. There were no serious injuries, the collision took place at very low speed", a Trenitalia spokesman told AFP.
Investigations are underway to understand the causes of the accident, he added.
Photos and videos posted on social networks show two trains up against each other, with emergency services intervening on the side.
The accident caused severe traffic disruption in the area.
Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has called for the "rapid identification of the causes and possible responsibilities", his services said in a statement.
In August, a train struck and killed five workers carrying out night-time maintenance work near Turin (northern Italy).
In February 2020, two railway workers were killed and 31 passengers injured when a train derailed near Lodi, south of Milan.
And in January 2018, another derailment near Milan left three dead and 100 injured, blamed on poor track maintenance.