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| Title: Three dead in Sardinia rail crash |
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From: Reproduced with permission from BBC News at bbcnews.com |
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Date: 15/06/2007 |
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Two trains have collided on the Italian island of Sardinia, killing at least three people, including one Briton, and injuring seven others, police said.
They say a 27-year-old British woman and two Italians, including one of the train drivers, were among the dead.
A cargo train hit a passenger train head-on between the towns of Bortigali and Birori in the province of Nuoro.
The crash occurred on a single-track section at 0735 local time. One of the injured is in a critical condition.
Ancient track
Italian police believe a "communications error" caused the crash as neither driver was aware of an oncoming train, Reuters reports.
Elizabeth Beever, originally from the Oxford area, was on holiday when she died in the collision, local police said.
A police spokesman said she was travelling with a 48-year-old Canadian man, who suffered minor injuries. He could not confirm the relationship between the pair.
The Foreign Office said Ms Beever’s next of kin have been informed, but could they not confirm where she lived.
The body of train driver Cosimo Serra, 45, is still being removed from the wreckage.
The third dead man, Bachisio Arca, 53, was a commuter.
Reports say the Canadian boyfriend of the British woman was one of those taken to hospital.
The accident happened about 3km (1.8 miles) from the station of Bortigali, in open countryside and on a single track railway track which dates back two centuries.
Italian media say the section of track was on a steep slope which made it difficult for rescue workers to reach.
In January 2005, 17 people were killed and 60 injured when an inter-city train collided with a freight carrier near the northern city of Bologna.
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