At Least 20 Reported Dead After Head-On Collision Of 2 Trains In Italy

By Camila Domonoske / NPR

Published July 12, 2016 at 5:35 AM PDT

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

This aerial handout photo shows what is left of two commuter trains after their head-on collision in southern Italy on Tuesday.

Two trains collided in southern Italy on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens, according to wire reports.

The head-on crash occurred in the region of Puglia, The Associated Press reports, and the trains belonged to a local private rail company.

The line "is used by thousands of people daily on about 200 trains," the BBC reports. "Work is under way to make it a double-track line."

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Rescue work is ongoing, the AP writes, with at least two people rescued alive from the wreckage.

The mayor of the nearby town of Corato posted on Facebook that the crash is a "disaster, as if an airplane fell," according to the AP.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called the incident "a moment for tears," and he is cutting short a visit to Milan because of the crash, The Telegraph reports.