A train has derailed in northern Italy, killing at least six people and injuring 20 others, media reports say.The accident occurred in a mountain valley following a landslide near the winter sports town of Merano, close to the border with Austria.
Many of the injured were in a serious condition, the Ansa news agency said citing rescue officials.
The accident took place at 0905 (0705 GMT). Ambulances and emergency crews are heading to the scene.
"Six or seven people were killed, but the death toll could get worse," Florian Schrofenegger, of the fire department in the nearby town of Bolzano, told local media.
He said the train, a local service with two carriages on the line from Castelbello to Laces, appeared to have been hit by the landslide.
A reporter for Sky Italia television said smoke was rising from the wreckage and helicopters were flying overhead.
Ansa news agency said the train slid down a slope beside the tracks and was stopped by two pine trees from plunging into a river below.
The railway line, inaugurated in 2005, is one of the most modern in the country, Ansa said.
It runs at the foot of an alpine valley with mountains towering up to 3,000m (9,850ft) above it, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.
In spring, avalanches in the high mountains sometimes trigger mudslides lower down the valley, our correspondent adds.
