ATHENS

The derailment of a freight train near the northern province of Florence caused chaos in the Italian railway network, local media reported on Thursday.

The incident immediately affected railway traffic in the province with the major northern city of Bologna, the state-run ANSA news agency remarked.

The incident, which took no casualties, led to disruption of the railway traffic between the northern and southern parts of the country, it added.

As a preliminary investigation is underway to determine what caused the incident, the Transportation Ministry announced that work is continuing to restore the traffic by afternoon.