Two dead as Milan tram driver ‘felt ill’ before fatal crash

 MILAN - Two people have been killed and at least 40 have been injured after a tram derailed and crashed into a building in central Milan. Lead prosecutor Marcello Viola, who attended the scene, described “a devastating impact”. 

 

 The number 9 tram left its tracks at 4:11p.m. on Friday afternoon on Viale Vittorio Veneto, at the junction with Via Lazzaretto, crossing into the opposing lane before crashing through a shop window. Dashcam footage from a car stopped at a nearby red light captured the vehicle entering a curve at speed, rocking violently from side to side before veering across the carriageway and slamming into the building amid a cloud of dust and flashes from the overhead power line. One passenger told the Ansa news agency he thought it was an earthquake, ‘I was sitting and ended up on the floor along with the other passengers. It was terrible,’ he said. 

 

 Mayor Beppe Sala confirmed that one of the dead, an Italian man in his sixties, was struck by the tram as it left its tracks. The second victim, a Senegalese national whose identity has yet to be confirmed was injured on board and later died at Niguarda Hospital, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. Sala said to reporters that the accident did not appear to be a technical failure but connected to the driver. 

 

 The crash comes at a moment of particular visibility for the city. Milan is currently hosting Fashion Week and sits in the interim period between the Winter Olympics and the Paralympic Games, which the city is co-hosting. 

 

 Sala, who described the incident as “a tragedy”, said the driver was an experienced employee who had been on shift for only an hour before the crash. He had skipped a stop before the derailment and would be questioned. Crucially, the driver is reported to have told colleagues he had been feeling unwell at the time. 

 

 The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into manslaughter. The driver, who has 34 years of experience with ATM, Milan’s public transport operator, was taken to hospital and will be questioned by investigators as they work to establish whether a medical episode contributed to the derailment. The tram itself – a modern Stadler Tramlink model that had reportedly only been in service for a few months – sustained serious damage to the driver’s cab. 

 

 Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her condolences to the victims’ families, while Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who is from Milan, said he was “grieved” by the accident and called for answers.