Italy train collision

This item appears on page 61 of the September 2016 issue.

In the Apulia region of southeastern Italy, two passenger trains collided head-on on July 12 between the towns of Andria and Corato, killing 23 people and injuring 52 others.

The rail service in the area, which consists of a single track, requires stationmasters to notify each other when trains are on the track. The stationmaster at Andria admitted that he had OK’d the southbound train, not knowing that a northbound train was incoming.