A tanker triggers a dangerous chain reaction on the motorway in Bologna . Several explosions shake the periphery of the city. There is one dead and many injured.
Bologna (AP) – Explosions on the highway in Bologna ,Italy,killed at least one person. “There are more than 60 injured,” tweeted Italy’s Vice-Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio.
Some people were seriously injured. The prefecture had spoken at times of two dead. In the evening, however, the authority corrected according to the news agency Ansa own data – it was confirmed only one death. The search for possible other victims go on, so Ansa.
In a video released on Monday evening, the police showed the devastating sequence of events: You can see that a tank truck drives into a truck at the end of a traffic jam . Immediately flames and dark smoke rise up. When the highway is already evacuated, there is an even more violent explosion . The fireball extends far beyond the eight lanes.
“The blast was huge,” Ansa quoted the Fire Brigade Operations Coordinator , Giovanni Carella . The explosions set in motion a dangerous chain reaction : Burning wreckage set other nearby cars on fire, some of which exploded.
The TV station TRC said an explosion also shook a restaurant in front of which a car was parked. Windows broke, some residents had initially thought of an earthquake.
“I was thinking of an assassination,” said a man from Arezzo the newspaper ” Corriere della Sera “. He had been in a restaurant when it was banging. Shortly thereafter, the glass roof of the restaurant collapsed. “We sat and at some point we heard the loud thundering (…) I looked outside and got the impression of seeing a wall of flames.” There were explosions for several minutes .
A police video on Twitter shows that part of the highway bridge on which the truck was traveling collapsed and tore a gaping hole in the road. Italian media disseminated a video that made a motorist from the moment of the second explosion .
It was determined how it could come to the events on the highway 14, the police said . The motorway also runs along the grounds of Bologna Airport . This was not affected, according to the operator. Also, initially there were no effects on the flight operations. Travelers were instructed, however, to go early on the way to the airport.
Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini spoke on Twitter of a “horrific explosion ” and thanked the approximately 100 firefighters .
The accident site and the surrounding area were shrouded in dark smoke. Several roads were blocked. Because of the strong heat development, extinguishing would have been difficult at first, Ansa reported. They were completed in the afternoon.