A train hit and killed five Italian railway workers overnight to Thursday while they were replacing some track on the Milan-Turin line, state railway network owner Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) has said.

The train was traveling at about 160 kph (100 mph), Italian news agency ANSA said, quoting police.  

What do we know about the accident?

The five workers were carrying out maintenance on tracks outside the station of Brandizzo on the outskirts of the northern city of Turin when they were hit by a train transporting wagons around midnight.

Two of their colleagues, including the foreman, managed to avoid the goods train and were unhurt, ANSA reported.

The train driver was in shock but otherwise unharmed, according to the agency.

Paolo Bodoni, the mayor of Brandizzo, told the AGI news agency that the accident was "a huge tragedy."

"It cannot be excluded that there could have been a communication error," he said adding that an investigation was underway.

In a statement, RFI, which manages Italian railway infractructure, offered "its condolences and closeness" to the victims' families.

tj/rt (AFP, Reuters)