ROME, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Two people were killed when a vehicle caught fire after striking a wall inside a tunnel in northern Italy on Monday in the Lecco region between Milan and Bergamo, firefighters said.

The driver, who was killed, had lost control of the vehicle, which caught fire when it hit the tunnel wall, provoking a pile-up of cars arriving from behind. Another person died of smoke inhalation.

BEIJING, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - One worker died on Monday and nine others remained trapped underground after the railway tunnel they were building in central China was inundated with flood waters, state media reported.

Fifty-two workers building the 14-kilometre (8.7-mile) tunnel in Hubei province were initially trapped after the flooding occurred early Sunday, according to Xinhua, which cited local authorities.

Forty-three workers were pulled out of the tunnel on Sunday, although one of them died on Monday from unspecified injuries, Xinhua said.

BEIJING, Aug 6, 2007 (AFP) - Nine workers remained trapped Monday in a flooded railway tunnel in central China, after three others were rescued late the previous day, state media reported.

Rescue workers had pumped out a large quantity of water, but silt and mud were still clogging parts of the tunnel in Hubei province where the remaining workers were trapped, Xinhua news agency quoted a local official as saying.

BEIJING, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) - Thirty-eight workers were trapped early Sunday when a torrent of mud and water engulfed a rail tunnel under construction in central China, the government said.

Rescue teams managed to free four of the workers building the tunnel in Hubei province but 34 remained trapped about 200 metres (660 feet) below ground, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement.

All four rescued workers were receiving treatment in hospital, the statement added.