Italy gas train explodes,kills 15

At least 15 people were killed and 50 injured overnight in Italy when a freight train hauling liquefied petroleum gas derailed and exploded as it passed their homes,officials said on Tuesday.

About 1,000 people were evacuated following the blast just before midnight on Monday,which shook people from their beds in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio,about 350 km north of Rome. Thirty-seven people were injured,seriously or very seriously,rescue workers said,including a 2-year-old who was badly burned and was being transferred to a hospital in Florence. It was Italy’s most deadly rail accident since 17 people were killed in January 2005,when a passenger train collided with a freight train near Bologna. Firefighters battled overnight to contain blazes started by the explosion.