Protesters block roads near Turin

Hundreds of people blocked roads in the Turin area Wednesday for a second day to protest against a high-speed rail link planned for northwestern Italy. A day earlier, police clashed with protesters in the Susa Valley where the demonstrators had been camped out in a bid to stop the work on the link from starting. There were also clashes late on Tuesday in Turin, in which one officer suffered a head injury, Turin police said.

On Wednesday protesters blocked both lanes of the A32 highway at Bussoleno, in the Susa Valley west of Turin, police said. Two smaller roads in the area were also blocked.

Environmentalists and residents have been protesting for weeks against the drilling of a tunnel for the rail line to link Turin with Lyon, France. The protesters claim that the railroad would ruin the Alpine valley, which will host some 2006 Winter Olympics events, and that drilling a tunnel could contaminate the environment, reports the AP. I.L.