ROME — A boulder fell off a truck in eastern Italy and smashed into a train locomotive early Monday, killing the engineer and seriously injuring another train worker, railway officials said.
According to the Associated Press, railway officials said four of the approximately 700 passengers aboard the Intercity train between Lecce and Trieste were taken to a hospital for treatment of bruises.
The accident occurred during the night near the Adriatic city of Pescara.
The truck was on a road running above the train track.
Railway traffic continued on a parallel track, and no significant delays on the north-south route along the eastern coast were reported.
Officials were trying to determine why the boulder tumbled off the back of the truck.
The ANSA news agency reported that the truck driver was being investigated for suspected manslaughter. But Claudio Cappellone, an official at the Lanciano prosecutor’s office which was investigating the accident, said no decision had been made about possible charges.