Some migrants in Italy have been hit by trains as they walked alongside the train tracks, while others have been electrocuted while riding on the tops of train cars. In response, Italy's railway police have launced an awareness campaign to educate foreigners about railway risks
The Italian Railway Police (Polfer) have launched a campaign called "Keep Safe From Railway Risk" to help migrants become more aware of the dangers inherent in the improper use of trains. "The passage of refugees, in fact, also regards rail connections, and sometimes it ends in extremely dangerous behaviors such as walking alongside the tracks, including inside tunnels, or travelling on the roofs of train cars, with the extremely high risk of electrocution," a statement said.
Four migrants died in train accidents in the first six months of 2017, the majority from electrocution or being hit by a train along the line, with another four injured. This represents a decidedly upward trend compared to 2016, in which there were three deaths and three injuries across the entire year. The most recent tragic episodes have happened in the past two weeks: a 36-year-old Iraqi man was killed after he was hit by a train in a tunnel near Ventimiglia; a man from Ghana was electrocuted in Verona; and a man from Mali was killed by electrocution in Liguria at the French border.
The Polfer campaign, which consists in the distribution of multi-language informational brochures at train stations along the migrant route as well as in migrant reception centres and shelters, aims to stem the situation by increasing awareness among refugees about railway dangers, which oftentimes aren't present in their countries of origin. "We've been facing migrant flows in the railway sector for some time now," said Armando Nanei, the Railway Police Service director. "In the face of some tragic events, and after having seen that oftentimes these people don't have the faintest idea of the danger they're putting themselves in, we decided that we could and had to do something". (Picture showing Italy's railway police agents in a train station. Copyright ANSA)