Two children die following crash

TWO children have died after suffering severe burns in an explosion that followed a train derailment in northern Italy, bringing the death toll from the accident to 16, Italian officials said yesterday.

A three-year-old girl died at the Bambin Gesu hospital in Rome, said hospital official Marco Magheri.

A two-year-old boy died in the Meyer Hospital in Florence hospital, said spokesman Roberta Rezoalli.

Both children had suffered burns to 90% of their bodies, the hospital officials said.

The tragedy happened when a train carrying liquefied gas derailed while travelling through a residential area in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio at around midnight on Monday. The derailment set off a massive explosion which caught many residents as they slept.

Twenty-seven people were injured, many of whom are in serious condition.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi said that he was going to cancel a trip to Libya in the wake of the accident.