(Athens) A collision between a freight train and a passenger train traveling between Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece, killed at least 26 people and injured 85 on Tuesday evening, according to firefighters.
“At least 16 people have been found dead so far,” a spokesperson for the Greek fire service announced earlier at a press conference, adding that the rescue operation was still ongoing.
“85 people were injured and transported to nearby hospitals,” he added.
The spokesman confirmed that three wagons derailed at the town of Larissa, in the center of the country, after the collision between a freight train and another convoy carrying 350 passengers.
STRINGER PHOTO, REUTERS
One of the wagons caught fire and several people were trapped, according to the public television channel Ert.
On the Skai television channel, Kostas Agorastos, the governor of the region, said that “more than 250 passengers were transferred by bus to Thessaloniki”.
“Unfortunately the number of injured and dead is likely to be high,” he continued.
PHOTO VAGGELIS KOUSIORAS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A government crisis meeting was organised.
“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.
The two hospitals in the Larissa region have been requisitioned to accommodate the many injured, according to local media Onlarissa.