A landslide has caused a train to derail and buried vehicles killing at least 11 and injuring dozens of people in Northern Italy near the city of Bolzano, local media have reported.

A train packed with commuters in the morning rush hour has derailed killing at least eleven people as rescue workers race against time to find people buried under the rubble.

The train travelling on the Castelbello Laces line had derailed at 09:00 local time. dozens of cars are fought to be under the tons of earth and rock that fell on top of them during the morning rush hour.

Authorities have said that the landslide was caused by an irrigation pipe which burst under the high hills of the area where the landslide occurred. The water that burst from the pipes just two days ago had weakened the area resulting in the landslide.

Television images of the accident showed the train that had rolled down a slope, stopped by pine trees on the foot of a river.

An unnamed official said to Nationalturk “it could have been much worse, the pine trees stopped the carriages from falling into the river. Had it(carriages) fallen there would have been more deaths,”

Rescue workers are currently working with shovels and pickaxes, going through the earth, mud and rocks that trapped vehicles underneath it. Some of the injured are in serious condition reported authorities who are going through dangerous ground to get to the accident area.

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