Fireball near Bologna airport after road crash explosion

ROME - A tanker truck ploughed into a lorry on a motorway near Bologna airport in northern Italy on Monday, exploding in flames and sending a huge ball of fire and black smoke into the sky.

At least two people were killed and more than 60 injured, according to local authorities.

Police closed off the road where the crash took place as well as the surrounding area of Borgo Panigale, on the outskirts of the city of Bologna.

Video of the incident showed the tanker truck, which contained inflammable materials, slamming into the back of a lorry which had come to a halt because of heavy traffic.

The tanker immediately caught fire and then exploded, causing part of a road bridge to collapse. The fire spread to a car dealership below and several other vehicles burst into flames.

"The shockwave from the blast was extremely violent. Many of the injured received cuts from flying glass, which had shattered," said Giovanni Carella, the emergency coordinator for the local fire service.

He said he thought the tanker had probably been carrying liquid petroleum gas.

A video shot from a parked car appeared to show someone being engulfed by flames when the tanker exploded.

In a separate incident on Monday, 12 migrant laborers died in the southern Italian region of Puglia when the van they were travelling in smashed into a lorry. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

SERIE A: Totti's 250th Serie A goal fails to save Roma

MILAN - Francesco Totti, two days short of his 40th birthday, scored his 250th Serie A goal for AS Roma on Sunday but it was not enough as they continued their inconsistent start to the season with a 3-1 defeat at Torino.

Giovanni Simeone, son of Atletico Madrid coach and former Argentina captain Diego, scored his first Serie A goal to help Genoa draw 1-1 with Pescara despite finishing with nine men and Inter Milan were held 1-1 at home by Bologna.

Fiorentina's Josip Ilicic fired a first-half penalty against the post as they were held 0-0 at home by AC Milan in the late game.

Inter moved into third with 11 points from six games, four behind leaders Juventus, 1-0 winners at Palermo, and three off Napoli, who beat visiting Chievo 2-0 also on Saturday.

They are followed by Roma, Lazio, Milan, Chievo and Bologna, all on 10 points.

Roma were undone by two goals from Iago Falque, a player they loaned to their opponents at the start of the season, as they lost at Torino for the first time since 1990.

Andrea Belotti headed Torino in front after eight minutes and they struck again when Falque converted a penalty in the 53rd after Belotti was tripped by Bruno Peres.

In between, Torino goalkeeper Joe Hart twice denied his former Manchester City team mate Edin Dzeko an equaliser for Roma.

Roma were themselves awarded a penalty in the 55th minute and halftime substitute Totti, playing his 25th season at his only professional club, sent Hart the wrong way to score his second goal of the campaign.

Falque restored Torino's two-goal lead 10 minutes later with a shot which took a wicked deflection off Federico Fazio.

BEST PLAYER

Totti, Serie A's second all-time leading scorer, is 24 goals short of Silvio Piola's record of 274, set in 1954.

"Totti is the best player in Italy in the last 25 years. It gives me great pleasure to see him still playing," said Torino coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was angry with his team's inconsistency, however.

"For a long time this team has shown too many highs and lows, both under myself and other coaches," he said.

"There's always this presumption that things will happen by themselves purely because of the prestige of the club, the quality in the squad and the importance of the shirt."

Simeone, signed from River Plate in the close season, got off the mark two minutes after halftime when he controlled Santiago Gentiletti's pass and drilled the ball home with his left foot for a well-taken finish.

But Genoa fell apart in the last 20 minutes as Edenilson and Goran Pandev were sent off before Rey Manaj levelled for promoted Pescara with four minutes left.

Mattia Destro stunned the San Siro when he finished off a counter-attack to give Bologna a 14th-minute lead against Inter before Ivan Perisic volleyed the equaliser.

Inter should have won with the last move of the match, but Andrea Ranocchia sent a free header wide from six metres.

Keita Balde Diao and Senad Lulic gave Lazio a 2-0 win at home to Empoli while a first-half strike from Gregoire Defrel earned Sassuolo a 1-0 win over visitors Udinese, who twice hit the woodwork in the closing minutes.

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Toby Davis and Ken Ferris)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: Liza Soberano featured in Italian paper

MANILA – Liza Soberano has been featured in a local newspaper in Italy.

In the December 15 issue of Bologna - Il Resto del Carlino for its Spettacoli (shows) section, a picture of the Kapamilya actress can be seen with a corresponding article about her upcoming ABS-CBN series "Dolce Amore."

One of her Instagram photos as she tours Bologna was also featured in the newspaper. (IN PHOTOS: Liza Soberano tours Italy)

In "Dolce Amore," Soberano will play the role of Serena, an Italian princess who wants nothing but live a simple life.

She will again act opposite Enrique Gil, who plays the role of Tenten, an ordinary boy from Manila who works hard to provide for his family.

Aside from the two, "Dolce Amore" will also feature Cherie Gil, Matteo Guidicelli and Frenchie Dy. All of them are currently in Italy taping for the series.

To be directed by Cathy Garcia Molina, "Dolce Amore" was one of the shows unveiled by ABS-CBN at a trade event for advertisers last week. It is slated to be shown in 2016.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com