Gigantiv BLEVE on Italian highway: 1 dead and 60 injured

Two trucks collided on a motorway in Italian Bologna on Monday. The accident caused a huge explosion and parts of the highway bridge collapsed. At least one person should have died and 60's injured, reports local media.



The Italian police release a video of the accident. All photos are provided by the Italian fire service.



During Monday, two trucks collided on a Bologna highway in northern Italy. One of the trucks is said to be a tanker that transported flammable cargo, writes AFP news agency.

A violent explosion followed and the rescue efforts were difficult.

At the scene of the accident, the bridge over part of the highway partly collapsed. On social media, pictures of a big fireball and a massive black smoke spread.



Vehicles at an adjacent car dealership also caught on fire and the pressure wave from the explosion shattered windows on the neighboring houses.





According to information in the Italian newspaper Repubblica, at least one person died and at least some 60 were injured, several of them seriously.



The dead person is said to be the driver of the tanker.



Some of the injured allegedly have been hit by shards from broken windows, according to AP.



Initially, several local media reported that two people had been confirmed to be killed in the accident, but the information has later been shown to be incorrect and may have been a misunderstanding with SOS, Repubblica writes.



Italian emergency services should have told AFP that the death rate is expected to rise.

In the video, a tanker is driving into a truck from behind. The vehicles immediately began to catch fire - and in just a few seconds the fire covers several lanes.



A camera from the other direction of travel first shows thick black smoke - then the image of the powerful explosion can be seen.



The police write on Twitter that they are investigating the event.