ROME - A train travelling between Bergamo and Lecco collided with an ambulance at a railroad crossing near Pontida on Thursday, killing two people and critically injuring another.

 

The ambulance was carrying two passengers, Umberto Pavesi, 79, and his son Claudio Pavesi, 49, from a nearby retirement home when the collision occurred. Both men were killed in the crash, while the wife of Claudio Pavesi, who was travelling behind the ambulance, was not injured. The driver of the ambulance was brought to Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital in Bergamo and is in critical condition. Approximately 20 passengers were aboard the train at the time of impact, but all are believed to have been uninjured

 

Initial reports suggest that the crossing bars failed to lower properly as the train approached the roadway, however it is not certain whether it was caused by a technical problem.

 

Roberto Maroni, the governor of Lombardy, has called for an investigation into the accident while the Italian Railway Network has set up a commission of inquiry "to establish the exact dynamics." Trenord has stated that their first survey "did not record any abnormalities on the systems on board the train" and that the train was travelling "in compliance with the speed limit."