Italy train derailment death toll rises

ROME (AP) - Two children have died after suffering severe burns in an explosion that followed a train derailment in northern Italy, bringing the death toll to 16, officials said Wednesday.

A 3-year old girl died at the Bambin Gesu hospital in Rome, said hospital official Marco Magheri. A 2-year old boy died in a Florence hospital, said Roberta Rezoalli of the Meyer hospital. Both children had suffered burns on 90 percent of their bodies, the officials said.

A train carrying liquefied gas derailed while traveling through a downtown neighborhood in the Tuscan seaside town of Viareggio at around midnight Monday. The derailment set off a massive explosion that caught many residents as they slept.

Twenty-seven people were injured, many of whom are in serious condition, Transports Minister Altero Matteoli said Wednesday as he briefed lawmakers on the disaster.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi said he was canceling a trip to Libya following the accident. Berlusconi, whose country holds the G-8 presidency, had been scheduled to attend an African Union summit.