Watch: 1 dead, 40 injured after tanker truck explodes near Bologna, Italy

AFP

Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, ItalyUpdated: Aug 07, 2018, 10:21 AM IST

Two trucks collided on a motorway near Bologna airport in northern Italy on Monday, sending a huge ball of fire and billowing black smoke soaring into the sky. Photograph:(Reuters)

A tanker truck exploded on a motorway just outside the northern Italian city of Bologna on Monday, engulfing the area with flames and black smoke, the fire service said, with local media reporting one person killed.

The explosion occurred near Borgo Paginale to the west of the city, very close to Bologna airport, at around 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), the Italian fire service said on Twitter.

The cause of the blast is not yet known.

Italian news agency Ansa has reported that one person died and 40 others were injured following the blast.

A video published on Twitter by the Italian fire service shows a huge column of black smoke billowing from the wreckage of the truck on the city's ring road.

Images released earlier by the fire service showed burning cars in an adjacent carpark.

One video filmed by a motorist circulating on Twitter shows the moment the tanker exploded when a black plume of smoke was suddenly swept away by a powerful ball of flame that takes over the entire horizon.