Five railway workers killed by train in Italy

Workers were replacing track outside station of Brandizzo on the Milan-Turin line at about midnight

Firefighters work at the site where a regional train hit and killed five maintenance workers near Brandizzo station in Turin, Italy. Photograph: Tino Romano/EPA
Firefighters work at the site where a regional train hit and killed five maintenance workers near Brandizzo station in Turin, Italy. Photograph: Tino Romano/EPA

Five Italian railway workers were killed when they hit by a train near Turin, the state railway Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Rfi) said on Thursday.

The workers were replacing some track outside the station of Brandizzo, on the line connecting Milan and Turin, at about midnight on Wednesday when they were run over by a train transporting wagons.

The train was travelling at about 160kph (100mph), news agency ANSA quoted police as saying.

“Rfi expresses great sorrow ... and offers its condolences and closeness to the families of the dead workers,” the company said in a statement.

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Two workers managed to avoid the goods train and were unhurt, ANSA reported.

The train driver was treated for shock on the scene and then allowed to go home. – Reuters