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Rome subway crash kills 1, hurts dozens

Witnesses say the driver of one train ran a red light before smashing into a stopped train.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 18, 2006

ROME - A subway train plowed into another that was stopped in a central Rome station during rush hour Tuesday morning, killing one person and injuring more than 100 as passengers screamed and ran for the exits.

Some witnesses said the driver of the moving train appeared to have run a red light.

Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash.

Thick, black smoke filled the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II subway station, and panicked passengers ran after the crash, witnesses said.

Stunned and bloodied passengers were led from the station, according to TV video reports.

"People in my carriage were sprawled all over the floor crying and screaming," said Khan Jaris Hassan, a 29-year-old native of India, who was in the moving train.

"Inside there were many people covered in blood shouting for help, many too injured to walk," Hassan said at San Giovanni Hospital, where he was waiting for a friend to be treated.

The prefect's office said that 110 people had been taken to hospitals and that five were in serious condition.

The driver of the moving train was trapped in the rubble but was pulled out alive.

Authorities said the person killed was a 30-year-old Italian woman. She and the most seriously injured had been in the last car of the halted train.

The moving train had pushed 6 to 9 feet into the stopped train, fire department spokesman Luca Cari said.

Officials were investigating if human error was to blame or if something had gone wrong with the signals at the station.

Atac, Rome's public transport company, said the station remained closed.

[Last modified October 18, 2006, 05:48:41]