Two passenger trains collided head-on in a rural area of southeastern Italy late Tuesday morning, killing at least 23 people, a medical official said, and prompting authorities to ask for blood donations for an unspecified number of injured.
Pictures from the scene in the Puglia region showed both trains were on the same track about 15 kilometers south of the Adriatic Sea, apparently headed toward each other.
One train was headed from Andria to Corato, while the other was headed in the opposite direction, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
At least 23 people were killed, and the number is expected to rise. The official said 22 bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, and one person died in a hospital.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for an investigation into the collision.
"We are shocked by what happened," said Stefano Paris, President of the Italian Union of the Adventist Church, "and our thoughts are with the people involved."
"We express our sincere condolences and closeness to the victims' families. We participate in their grief and we pray that the Lord may give consolation in this difficult time. We are close with our prayers to the wounded, who are suffering in hospitals, and to their families”, so President Paris.
“The images we have seen sadden us greatly”, so Corrado Cozzi, Public Relations Director in the Inter-European Division. “We would never see nor suffering, nor death. We are close to the victims' families and the injured. May the Lord comfort all of them.”
