Two trains, a Freccia Rossa and a regional train, collided along the Bologna-Rimini railway line, in the Faenza (Ravenna) area, between Castel Bolognese and Forlì, on Sunday evening. The toll from the accident is 17 injured, none seriously. The repercussions on rail traffic are serious.
The rescues
The firefighters intervened along the tracks, with teams from Ravenna and Forlì. In a note shortly after the accident, Trenitalia announced that traffic between Castelbolognese and Forlì was suspended, and that “the causes are being investigated”. The passengers – we read in the same note – “were looked after and work is underway for their re-protection”. Everyone was transferred aboard other trains and brought back to Bologna station.
The dynamics
The accident was a sort of rear-end collision and occurred around 8.20pm: the two convoys, both traveling north, collided at a low speed, for reasons yet to be ascertained. It would have been the Freccia that collided with the other convoy, which was stationary, performing a sort of “reverse” to align with the red traffic light. As per protocol, in addition to the health workers, the firefighters intervened on site, with teams arriving from Ravenna and Forlì, and the police. The images show a “Rock” train and a “Frecciarossa 1000”, both of the latest generation, damaged in their front parts but not outside the tracks.
“Only minor injuries”
Reached by telephone an hour after the accident, the mayor of Faenza Massimo Isola explained that after the initial fear the situation was under control. «Fortunately the injured are well and no one suffered serious consequences – he said – the impact was relatively ‘weak’. Our civil protection teams are on site while Trenitalia has taken steps with another regional vehicle to load the passengers who were stuck in the one involved in the accident.” The definitive toll of the injured arrived around 10pm speaks of 16 injured people treated on site while a seventeenth passenger was transferred for checks to the Bufalini hospital in Cesena but his condition does not cause concern. The train drivers were unharmed.
Salvini: «Identify the causes»
Matteo Salvini explained in a note that “he is carefully following what happened in the province of Ravenna, where a collision between trains occurred”. The MIT communicates this: «The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister, in particular, is asking for accurate reports on the conditions and assistance of the injured – even if minor – on the protection of all passengers for the completion of the journey, on the rapid identification of the causes and any responsibility”.