Two killed, dozens injured as tram derails in Milan
One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed and the second victim was a passenger
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deepest condolences” over the deaths
Updated 27 February 2026
AFP
MILAN: A tram derailed and smashed into a building in Milan on Friday, killing two people and injuring 38 others, police told AFP.
One of the dead was hit by the tram as it derailed and the second victim was a passenger, the city’s mayor Giuseppe Sala told reporters at the scene.
Firemen wrapped shocked passengers in emergency blankets while ambulances took the more seriously injured to hospital.
Milan has just hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics and is preparing to host the Paralympics. It is currently staging Milan Fashion Week.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deepest condolences” over the deaths.
BREAKING NEWS – A tram derailed in Milan and crashed into a building. Preliminary report: at least three people injured and taken to hospital, with around ten others suffering minor injuries, according to Corriere della Sera. pic.twitter.com/fCgUiRup1c
An initial investigation suggested the driver had not activated a track switch, according to media reports.
The driver had also run through the last stop on the line before the accident, the reports said.
“There was a man who was trapped under the tram, his arm was trapped,” witness Valerio Gaglione told AFP.
“There were lots of people injured inside the tram, I saw an old man completely covered in blood,” he said.
Prosecutor Marcello Viola, the lead investigator, said the impact beween the tram and the building it hit was “devastating.”
One victim was an Italian in his 60s, while the other was an immigrant who lived in the city, Sala said.
“It doesn’t look like it was a technical issue, but was connected to the driver,” Sala added.
Witnesses told the media that the tram had been traveling fast. But it was not immediately clear if it was breaking the 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour speed limit for trams.
“I just heard an enormous bang,” a 27-year-old called Anna, who was in her office nearby when the crash happened, told AFP.
“I saw a bit of the tram had gone into a shop,” said Anna, who did not want to give her last name.
The yellow and white tram could be seen slung across the road just outside the historic center in Milan.
One passenger 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.
Lebanon president accuses Hezbollah of working to ‘collapse’ state
Joseph Aoun: ‘Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state’
Ahmed Al-Sharaa: ‘We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah’
Updated 7 sec ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state and expressed Beirut’s readiness for “direct negotiations” with Israel, drawing the backing of his Syrian counterpart for his goal of disarming the Iran-backed group. Lashing out at Hezbollah over its March 2 attack against Israel, which has drawn a devastating Israeli retaliation, Aoun told European officials “Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos... all for the sake of the Iranian regime’s calculations.” To stop the war, the Lebanese president proposed a four-point initiative and called on the international community to help implement it. The plan included “establishing a full truce” with Israel, “logistical support” for the army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations (with Israel) under international auspices.” Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa endorsed his Lebanese counterpart on Monday saying, “We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah.” The statements came as the war between Israel and Hezbollah pushed into a second week, with Israel carrying out heavy strikes on a financial firm linked to the group. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313. AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown of the figures. According to the government, more than 660,000 people have registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of Monday.
Evacuation warnings
Israel said it killed the head of Hezbollah’s Nasr unit operating in part of southern Lebanon, Abu Hussein Ragheb, on Monday. Earlier, the Israeli military struck branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a US-sanctioned financial firm, after issuing evacuation warnings, according to Lebanese state media and AFP correspondents. The Israeli army said it was “striking Hezbollah infrastructure” in the southern suburbs. An AFP photographer in the area witnessed a massive explosion, while an armed Hezbollah member fired warning shots into the air to encourage residents to evacuate from their homes. The Israeli army renewed previous orders for people in the area to leave. Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a lifeline for mainly Shia Muslim communities battling a years-long financial crisis in Lebanon that has locked people out of their bank deposits. It says it has more than 30 branches nationwide, mainly in Hezbollah bastions such as Beirut’s southern suburbs, but also in central Beirut and other major cities. In Lebanon’s southern city of Sidon, an area outside of Hezbollah’s traditional sphere of influence, an AFP correspondent saw ambulances and civil defense vehicles gather around a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan. Israel also bombed the firm’s branches during its last war with Hezbollah in 2024, including the one in Sidon. Israeli tank fire killed a priest in the Christian southern Lebanese town of Al-Qlayaa, according to state media and a medical source.
‘Path of allegiance’
Hezbollah on Monday celebrated the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader. “We renew our pledge of loyalty to this blessed approach and our steadfastness on the path of allegiance,” the group said in a statement. It also claimed responsibility for at least 10 previous attacks against Israel and its forces, including against troops advancing into Lebanese border towns, as well as a missile salvo on an air base in Haifa. It said it targeted the Israeli Home Front Command base in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, with “advanced missiles.” Earlier Monday, it also said it had fought Israeli troops who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter, the second such incident since the latest war began. Israeli strikes on sites belonging to the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee in the Tyre and Jwaya areas in south Lebanon killed two paramedics and wounded six, the health ministry said, accusing Israel of “systematic targeting of rescue teams.” Despite the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon’s parliament met on Monday and postponed legislative elections by two years due to the conflict. The polls had been scheduled to take place in May.
