6 die in Italian rail tanker cars blast

VIAREGGIO, Italy, June 29 (UPI) -- Two freight train cars carrying gas tanks exploded in northern Italy Monday night, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more, authorities said.

Fifty people were hurt, some of them seriously, ANSA reported. The train had 14 cars, the Italian news agency said.

The blast occurred about midnight local time in Viareggio.

"The train was diverted and two of the carriages appear to have derailed," journalist Nick Pisa told Sky News. "Along that side of the railway line there are houses and they caught the full effect of the blast."

Pisa said local television was showing mobile phone footage of nearby houses engulfed in flames, the British TV channel said.

ANSA said five buildings had collapsed.