ROME (AP) — A dashing out-of-service practice slammed right into a team of workers doing nighttime observe upkeep in northern Italy on Thursday, killing 5 of them, authorities stated.

The crash occurred shortly after midnight at a station in Brandizzo, a city in Italy’s Piedmont area. Piedmont Gov. Alberto Cirio supplied the dying toll and stated the accident’s trigger was beneath investigation.

Brandizzo Mayor Paolo Bodoni stated there have been indications that the crew of the practice was unaware there have been employees on the tracks, reported La Stampa, a newspaper in Piedmont’s essential metropolis, Turin.

State radio initially stated authorities had estimated that the practice was transferring at about 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph). But a preliminary investigation by railway police later lowered the pace estimate to about 100 kilometers per hour (about 62 mph), the Corriere della Sera newspaper stated.

The practice consisted of an engine automobile and 11 empty passenger vehicles that it was transporting, Corriere della Sera stated.

“For sure there was a human error,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini stated.

“The first information reaching me refers to a scarcity of communication between the (work) team and who should have signaled the passage of the train, but we need to see what really happened,” Bodoni was quoted as saying.

Two employees who averted being hit had been being handled for shock at a hospital, La Stampa stated.

Various unions representing practice upkeep employees vowed to stage a strike to protest the crash and to commemorate the victims, Italian media stated.

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