Two die as trains collide in Alpine tunnel

French and Italian passenger trains collided head-on in an Alpine tunnel in south-east France today, killing two people and injuring four seriously.

Officials said the two trains slammed into each other in the single line Biona Tunnel near the Italian border, throwing passengers to the floor and causing their suitcases to tumble down from overhead tacks. Some passengers were in shock or had light injuries.

“Everywhere, people were screaming,” said Paolo Branconi, a passenger in the Italian train. “Three people managed to get out of the car and call for help.”

The confined area of the crash site made rescue operations difficult, said Jean-Paul Boulet of the French railway authority, SNCF.

About 150 rescue workers went on the scene, and four helicopters flew overhead to render assistance. Italy sent a helicopter and ambulances to the effort.

Passengers from both trains were taken to a community centre in the nearby village of Saint-Dalmas de Tende, where police handed out food and drinks and assisted the injured. Many passengers were taken back ti Italy by bus.

The regional government said two people had been killed, and four seriously injured, but it did not identify them. The conductor of the Italian train was believed to be one of the dead.

The French train was carrying five passengers and was travelling between Nice and Tende, a town near the collision site.

The Italian train was carrying about 200 people, according to the prefecture’s statement, and was on a route that passes through France and links the Italian cities of Torino and Ventimiglia.

The cause of the crash was still unclear, SNCF said. Only one set of rail tracks runs through the mountain tunnel. Officials were planning to question uninjured passengers to piece together what happened.

Many French people have worried about the safety of mountain passages in the Alps since a 1999 fire in a tunnel for cars and trucks. The blaze in the Mont Blanc tunnel linking France and Italy raged for two days, trapping people in their vehicles and killing 39 people.