The trains were travelling in opposite directions on a single track and the front two carriages of both trains took the full force of the impact.
“Several carriages are completely crushed and the emergency workers are pulling people out of the train, there are many injured,” Riccardo Zingaro, head of Andria traffic police, told journalists at the scene.
Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella expressed his “profound sorrow” for the victims and their families in what he called an “unacceptable tragedy”.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi Tweeted his sympathy and notable anger and pledged a full investigation to determine the cause of the crash.
“Tears and sorrow for the victims and their families, but also so much anger,” Mr Renzi tweeted. “We are demanding clarity about what happened in Puglia this morning.”
Mr Renzi visited the crash site in Puglia late on Tuesday as Graziano Del Rio, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, arrived in Puglia saying he had sent inspectors to join railway police in their investigation.
Mr Del Rio said a committee of inquiry would also be held into the cause of the accident.
As messages of grief and sympathy were expressed across Italy, questions were also being raised about how an accident like this could have occurred and there was speculation it was caused by human error.
“It is unacceptable that such incidents can still occur in 2016, and even more unacceptable that to speak about ‘human error’,” said Carlo Rienzi, president of the consumer group, Codacons.
“All the railway lines in the world benefit from the most advanced technology available to avoid collisions, derailments and errors.
“Today’s tragedy demonstrates how the railway transport in southern Italy is still at an intolerable level.”
Eleonora Forenza, a European MP from Bari, said it was “incomprehensible” that such a popular railway line was on a single track.
The Telegraph
UM– USEKE.RW
