Rescue workers on Saturday pried apart the mangled remains of two trains that collided head-on in northern Italy, finding four more bodies one day after the crash, firefighters said, raising the death toll to 17.
The force of the crash, which took place Friday in heavy fog on the Bologna-Verona line, left one carriage standing on end nearly perpendicular with the tracks.
Officials believe the driver of the passenger train did not stop at a red light, leading to the crash with a freight train in Bolognina di Crevalcore, north of Bologna, prosecutor Enrico Cieri said.
"But it is much too early to speak about human error," he said, quoted by the ANSA news agency. One possibility was that the driver was unable to see the warning light through the mist. Officials also were carrying out drug and alcohol tests on the remains of drivers who were killed, the report said.
Rescue officials searching the twisted metal wreck discovered four more bodies on Saturday, the fire department in Rome said. Workers were forced to cut apart crushed train cars to search inside.
