Tragic clash around 7pm in the Thurio area where a truck apparently got stuck on the tracks and was hit head-on by a train (the 5677 which goes from Sibari to Catanzaro) in transit. The vehicle then caught fire, creating a real inferno of flames between twisted sheets of metal and long tongues of fire. There are two victims: the driver of the truck – a young 24-year-old Moroccan, Said Hannaoi – and the conductor, Maria Pansini, a woman from Catanzaro Lido. Two injured people were treated at the Rossano emergency room, including the driver of the train, who was saved. Two other injured people were transported to Corigliano hospital. But these were minor injuries.
The 118 staff, the Fire Brigade and the Police Force intervened promptly on site. Rail traffic is currently suspended between Sibari and Corigliano Calabro. RFI and Trenitalia “express their pain and condolences for the victims and their closeness to the injured”.
The Castrovillari Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation to reconstruct the dynamics of the accident and ascertain any responsibilities. The investigations are conducted by the railway police together with the carabinieri. The firefighters and 118 personnel were also at the scene of the accident. Both the locomotive of the investing train and the truck caught fire after the collision, which occurred at a level crossing. The flames immediately rose very high, lighting up the entire area affected by the accident. What currently appears to be established is that the truck, when it was hit by the train, was stopped on the tracks.
The hypothesis that is made, even if the necessary checks must be carried out, is that the driver of the truck crossed the tracks shortly before the level crossing lowered and thus found himself trapped on the tracks. In fact, it seems that he was maneuvering when he hit a wall and got stuck.
A few seconds later the train arrived, at a speed of around 130 kilometers per hour, which completely hit the heavy vehicle.. RFI and Trenitalia have released a note in which, in reconstructing the dynamics of the accident, it is stated that “the truck occupied the site of a level crossing which, from initial findings, appears to be functioning regularly and closed”. The note also refers to the presence on the train, in addition to the conductor and the driver, of ten passengers, who were however all unharmed. The press release also states that rail traffic is currently suspended between Sibari and Corigliano Rossano and expresses “the pain and condolences of RFI and Trenitalia for the victims”.
Salvini’s condolences: we are monitoring the situation
«The images coming from Calabria are terrible, on the Sibari-Catanzaro Lido line, where a train hit a truck that was occupying the level crossing. We are constantly monitoring the situation.” He writes it Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini on his social profiles.
Salvini expresses his “condolences for the train conductor and the driver of the vehicle, who died instantly”. «Together with the Fire Brigade, Law Enforcement and emergency services, technicians are also in the field carrying out all the necessary checks. Modernizing and securing the railways throughout Italy with billions of euros of investments – concludes Salvini – is an absolute priority which we are carrying forward with the utmost commitment.”