Twenty people killed in train crash near Bari, Italy

The number of the victims of the collision of two passenger trains in southern Italy has risen to 20 dead, said a regional official press on Tuesday, adding that dozens of people are in hospital, some with serious injuries, reports Reuters.

According to the police the accident occurred on a stretch of rails nearby the cities of Corato and Andria, near Bari, on the Adriatic coast. The two regional trains consisting of four wagons each hit one another on the front and on both sides.

"Unfortunately the death toll has risen to 20," said Giuseppe Corrado, the deputy head of the local province. He appealed for blood donors to go to local hospitals.

“We will not stop until there is clarity on the cause of the crash,” said Matteo Renzi, the center-left prime minister. He was expected at the scene of the accident later on Tuesday, along with transportation minister Graziano Delrio.

Dozens of intervention vehicles, ambulances, police forces and firemen went to the scene, according to images broadcast on television. "The rescue is complicated because this happened in the middle of the countryside," said Luca Cari, a fire service spokesman.

"I dug through the wreckage and managed to save my husband. But I saw people cut to pieces," said an elderly woman standing alongside her husband, whose head was swathed in bandages. Another survivor said he was thrown to the floor by the impact. "When I got up, I saw hellish scenes around me."