Truemors
Viareggio, July 3 - The death toll from Tuesday's gas train explosion in Viareggio rose to 22 on Friday after a 40-year-old woman died in a Pisa hospital. Two other burns victims died earlier on Friday and four people remain in extremely critical condition, hospital sources said. In Rome, the cabinet on Friday declared the scene of the gas explosion a national disaster area and said a solemn funeral would be held for the victims.
It was also decided that a national day of mourning will be observed on the day of the funeral, which has yet to be scheduled. The emergency at the disaster site will remain in effect until December 31 and the government will allocate funds for this at a later date, cabinet sources said. In a related development, the train station here in this seaside Tuscan town was partially reopened on Friday, just three days after the devastating blast ripped through a neighborhood along the tracks.
However, rail officials said delays and cancellations would continue for several days, given that the Viareggio station was an important hub along the rail line running up and down Italy's west coast. In fact, only one of the eight tracks which run through the station has been opened for passenger traffic. In another sign of a return to normality, some local residents were allowed back into their homes near the tracks after authorities determined that there was no longer any danger of buildings collapsing. A total of 1,100 people were forced to flee their homes after the blast. Of these, only 80 are said to have been left homeless and will be housed elsewhere in Viareggio and neighboring townships.
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