A freight train derailed in the middle of a small Italian town last night killing 14 and injuring more than 30 people.
Most of the victims died when two rail cars filled with liquefied natural gas exploded, setting off an inferno.
The train cars crashed into several homes just outside the train station in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio.
The resulting explosion destroyed a building and set fire to a vast area.
Raffaele Gargiulo, a police spokesman in the nearby city of Lucca, said five people were killed when their houses collapsed.
Another victim was riding a scooter along the rail line when the train derailed.
The train, which was travelling from the northern city of La Spezia to Pisa, derailed just before midnight shortly after passing through Viareggio's train station.
The train's two engineers were only slightly injured and were questioned in hospital.
They said they felt an impact 180 metres outside the station, shortly before the train flew off the tracks.
