(Athens) At least 29 people died and 85 were injured on Tuesday evening in Greece in a collision between a freight convoy and a passenger train traveling between Athens and Thessaloniki, firefighters announced on Wednesday.
“At least 29 people have been found dead,” said Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, the spokesperson for the Greek firefighters during a brief press briefing, adding that the rescue operation was still in progress.
“85 people were injured and transported to nearby hospitals,” he added.
No details have been provided at this stage as to why the two trains collided.
But according to the Greek media, it is the “worst train accident that Greece has ever known”.
STRINGER PHOTO, REUTERS
Three cars derailed a few minutes before midnight Tuesday evening at the level of the city of Larissa, in the center of the country, after the collision between a freight train and another convoy carrying 350 passengers, reported this spokesman.
Some 150 firefighters, as well as 40 ambulances, were mobilized according to Greek relief. Cranes and mechanics were also deployed to try to clear the debris and lift the overturned wagons.
“I have never seen anything like it in my entire life. It’s tragic. Five hours later, we find bodies,” said an exhausted rescuer emerging from the carcass where he and his team are trying to extract bodies of passengers.
One of the wagons, white with a blue and red stripe, was completely crushed, making the intervention of rescuers particularly difficult, while others were partly destroyed. Heavy smoke and flames were emerging from other cars.
trapped passengers
PHOTO VAGGELIS KOUSIORAS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Most of the passengers have been brought to safety,” said the fire department spokesperson.
“The operation to free trapped people is underway and is taking place in difficult conditions, due to the seriousness of the collision between the two trains,” he also said.
Some “194 people were transferred by bus to Thessaloniki among them 26 were transported to hospitals”, specified the spokesperson for the fire brigade.
One of the wagons caught fire and several people were trapped, according to the public television channel ERT.
A government crisis meeting was organised. Health Minister Thanos Plevris visited the scene while Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos oversees the situation from the crisis management center with police and fire officials.
“Very shocking”
A passenger claimed on the Mega television channel that he “heard the driver (of the train) talking to the ticket controller […] we had the impression that something was wrong”.
“We experienced something very shocking,” said Lazos, a passenger interviewed by the newspaper. Protothema. “I am not injured but I am stained with the blood of other people who were injured next to me,” he said.
On the Skai television channel, a passenger says: “At the time of the accident, we jumped, because the windows suddenly exploded. People were screaming and scared”.
“Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and escape fairly quickly. In other wagons, they did not manage to get out and one wagon even caught fire, ”continues the still traumatized young man.
“The train overturned completely, and almost fell into the ravine, then half of the carriage started to catch fire… In my carriage, there were five injured passengers”, says another passenger on Skai television.
The two hospitals in the Larissa region have been requisitioned to accommodate the many injured, according to Greek firefighters. The military hospitals in Thessaloniki and Athens are also “on the alert” in case of need, they stressed.