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Here is New York Times staff reporting of a head on collision occurring in Southern Italy. The fatality count as of the report was twenty and is expected to rise:
ROME — Two passenger trains collided head-on in the Puglia region of southern Italy on Tuesday morning, killing at least 20 people, according to local officials, and leaving dozens injured.
The crash occurred around 11:30 a.m (530A ET JUL12). on a single track running through an olive grove between the towns of Corato and Ruvo di Puglia, said the spokesman, Luca Cari of the Vigili del Fuoco, a part of the Interior Ministry that handles fire and rescue services. The closest major city is Bari, about 20 miles east of Ruvo di Puglia.
The front cars of both trains were smashed, and both trains derailed, Mr. Cari said.
Italian news agencies broadcast images of rescue officials taking wounded passengers on stretchers under the burning sun.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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"The BEEB" is reporting that a Station Master has admitted fault:
A station master in southern Italy has admitted he allowed a train to go on a single track, minutes before a deadly collision with an oncoming train.
Twenty-three people died and 52 others were hurt in the head-on crash on a single track between Andria and Corato in the Apulia region on Tuesday.
"I let the train go, I was the one who gave the signal," Andria station master Vito Piccarreta told Italian media.
But he was adamant he was not the only one at fault.
Mr Piccarreta, a railway employee with 24 years of service, was quoted by La Stampa and other newspapers as saying: "I'm not the only one at fault, everyone is blaming me. But I'm a victim too."
The "outcry" for PTC, or some variant of such, will just grow louder - worldwide,
George Harris Member # 2077
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When you see the pile of scrap metal these coaches turned into, it makes the FRA vehicle safety standards look a lot more sensible than the various foreign car builders make them out to be.
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