One person dead and around 20 injured in Milan after tram derails and smashes into building

ONE PERSON HAS been killed and around 20 people have been injured in a tram crash in Milan, Italy.

The tram derailed and crashed into a building in the northern Italian city.

Photos of the scene show emergency workers and police attending to a heavily damaged tram car as well as injured people sitting on the street nearby. 

Alamy Stock Photo

It was not immediately clear why the tram came off the tracks.

Several ambulances could be seen at the scene, with firemen wrapping shocked-looking passengers in gold emergency blankets.

“I just heard an enormous bang,” a 27-year-old called Anna, who was in her office nearby when the crash happened, told the AFP news agency.

“I saw a bit of the tram had gone into a shop”, said Anna, who did not want to give her last name.

Witnesses told the media at the scene that the tram had been travelling fast.

One of the passengers told the ANSA news agency “I thought it was an earthquake”.

“I was sitting and ended up on the floor, along with the other passengers. It was terrible,” the passenger said.

The yellow and white tram could be seen slung across the road, just outside Milan’s historic centre.

The police source told AFP that one of the injured was in critical condition.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

With reporting from AFP