Milan (Italy) (AFP) – A tram derailed and smashed into a building in Milan on Friday, killing two people and injuring at least 38 others, police told AFP.
One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed and the second victim was a passenger, the city’s mayor Giuseppe Sala told reporters at the scene.
Firemen wrapped survivors in emergency blankets while ambulances took the more seriously injured to hospital.
An initial investigation suggested the driver had not activated a track switch. He had also run through the last stop on the line before the accident, Sala said.
The tram was new and the driver had years of experience. His shift had only begun an hour before the accident, Sala said.
The driver, hospitalised but not seriously injured, said he had “felt ill” before the crash, according to media reports.
A video widely shared on Italian media from a car cam showed the tram leaning over to one side as it raced into a curve towards the building, before lurching to the other side and crashing.
The yellow and white tram, which is 25 metres (80 feet) long and seats 66 people, could be seen slung across the road.
It was not immediately clear if it had been breaking the 50 kilometres (31 miles) per hour speed limit for trams.