A head-on collision between two passenger trains claimed the lives of at least eleven people and left many other injured in southern Italy on Tuesday.

The two trains were on a single-track line at the time of the crash, which occurred between the coastal towns of Bari and Barletta in the region of Apulia.

One of the trains was en route from the town of Corato to the city of Andria, while the other was traveling in the opposite direction, ANSA news agency informs.

At least eighteen people have been admitted to hospital. Fifteen of them have been taken to hospital in Andria, ten of them being in critical condition. Another three have been transported by helicopter to hospital in Barletta.

Emergency services are helping to extract passengers from the wreckage, with the number of casualties expected to rise.

A small child has been extracted from the wreckage and taken by  helicopter to hospital. Rescuers have set up a field hospital near the site of the crash.

Upon learning of the incident, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who had been on trip to Milan, immediately headed back to Rome.