Twenty-six people are killed and at least 85 are injured in horrific head-on crash between two trains in Greece with rescue teams searching for survivors
- A passenger train suffered a head-on collision with a cargo train near Larissa
- More than a dozen people were confirmed dead at the horror scene in Greece
Twenty-six people have been killed and least 85 were injured after two trains collided head-on in Greece late on Tuesday, the fire brigade said, while the circumstances of the crash remained unclear.
A passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, and a cargo train from Thessaloniki to Larissa, collided outside the city of Larissa in central Greece, said the governor of the Thessaly region.
‘The collision was very strong,’ governor Konstantinos Agorastos told SKAI TV, adding the first four carriages of the passenger train had derailed, while the first two carriages were ‘almost completely destroyed’.
‘It was a very powerful collision. This is a terrible night… It’s hard to describe the scene.
‘The front section of the train was smashed… We’re getting cranes to come in and special lifting equipment clear the debris and lift the rail cars. There’s debris flung all around the crash site.’
The collision between a freight and passenger train occurred near Tempe, some 380 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens, and resulted in the derailment of several train cars
Smoke rises from trains as firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision near Larissa city, Greece, early Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Several sections of the trains derailed and lay strewn across the tracks
A man walks at the site of a crash, where two trains collided, near the city of Larissa, Greece, March 1, 2023
At 2am it was reported the death toll had risen to 26.
Agorastos said about 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses, but that more than a dozen were killed and dozens more sustained serious injuries.
Broadcaster SKAI showed footage of derailed carriages, badly damaged with broken windows and thick plumes of smoke, as well as debris strewn across the road. Rescue workers were seen carrying torches in carriages looking for trapped passengers.
‘There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,’ a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told SKAI TV.
‘It was like an earthquake,’ Angelos Tsiamouras, another passenger, told ERT.
In the early hours of Wednesday, rescue crews were still searching for survivors.
Local media reported about 350 people were travelling on the train.
An overhead view of the crash shows a swarm of firetrucks, ambulances and police cars around the site
Firefighters operate at the site of the crash, carrying a spinal stabilisation stretcher
The site of a crash, where two trains collided, is seen near the city of Larissa, Greece, March 1, 2023
‘The evacuation of passengers is underway in very difficult conditions given the severity of the collision of the two trains,’ fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis said in a televised address.
Hospital units used to treat burn victims had been alerted in the area, he said, adding that dozens of ambulances were involved in the rescue effort.
Rescuers wearing head lamps worked in thick smoke, pulling pieces of mangled sheet metal from the crashed rail cars to search for trapped people.
Government officials said the army has been contacted to assist in the rescue.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki had about 350 passengers on board when the collision occurred.
Passengers who received minor injuries or were unharmed were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of the incident.
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