At least 67 people were also injured in the incident, which included part of a highway overpass to collapse, Italian police said.
ADVERTISEMENTAt least two people were killed and more than 60 injured when a tanker truck collided with a car in Bologna, Italy, and caused a highway bridge to collapse, officials said.
The tanker truck was carrying flammable materials on a highway in the area of Borgo Panigale in northern Italy. It collided with the car before 2 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET), setting off a fiery explosion and blasting a crater in the road, according to police.
At least 67 people were injured from the incident — more than a dozen of them with serious burns, police said in a statement.
ASNA, one of Italy's major news agency, said the tanker was carrying a liquefied petroleum gas at the time of the crash and that the explosion sent flames soaring into the air. Firefighters responding to the scene also tweeted that multiple rescue and emergency squads responded.
Italian television Sky TG24 said flames fell to the lower level of the raised highway, creating secondary explosions in a car lot below. It said some of the injured had been hit by flying glass when windows in nearby buildings exploded.
Firefighters said the flames were extinguished some three hours after the explosion, and they were working to cool the area to facilitation operations, ANSA reported.
Authorities said a major highway interchange had been closed north of the city due to the accident. The interchange connects two major highways linking northern Italy with the Adriatic coast, a popular destination as Italy heads into its major summer holiday next week.