ITALIAN RAILWAY INSURED FOR FATAL HIGHSPEED CRASH

ROME-Italy's state-owned railway, Ferrovie dello Stato, is likely to be fully covered for the property and liability damage caused by the crash Jan. 12 of one of its prestigious high-speed trains.

The "Pendolino" express, the country's fastest train service, crashed near Piacenza, about 30 miles south of its Milan departure point en route to Rome. Eight people were confirmed dead and 25 injured, including 10 who were hospitalized. The train derailed on a bend, causing seven of its eight cars to come off the track and hit a number of steel electricity towers.

The train and equipment were insured for about 30 billion to 40 billion Italian lire ($19.4 million to $32.3 million), according to Benito Pagnanelli, deputy general manager of Italy's largest insurer, Trieste-based Generali Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. He said the railway company also would have had compulsory third-party liability insurance, though he was unsure last week of the limits of coverage or potential level of claims.

Mr. Pagnanelli said Generali had a share of the railway company's risk, in which all the major Italian insurers participated.

Italian investigators last week still were trying to determine the cause of the accident. Initial speculation was that excessive speed or failure of the train's tilting mechanism were likely causes. Security police in Rome issued a statement saying there were no indications the derailment was due to sabotage, such as an obstacle placed on the track.