ROME-Five railway workers died after being hit by a train during overnight maintenance on a track in northern Italy, prompting shock and outrage Thursday. The train, which was transporting empty carriages on the Milan-Turin line, was reportedly travelling at 160 kilometres (99 miles) per hour when it struck the team replacing parts of the track near Brandizzo, on the outskirts of Turin. RFI, the company which manages Italy’s rail network, confirmed five maintenance workers employed by an external contractor had died after a train “not in commercial service” hit them shortly before midnight. In a statement, it expressed its “deep sorrow” at the deaths of the workers and offered condolences to their families, adding that investigations were underway into the incident. The fire service confirmed that “five workers were killed by a passing train” and two others were injured. Media reports suggest the pair who escaped, including the foreman, were physically unharmed but under observation.