32 PEOPLE KILLED, SCORES INJURED AFTER TRAINS COLLIDE IN GREECE

Wed 01 March 2023:

Following a head-on collision between two trains in central Greece that left dozens of people dead and scores more injured, rescue workers are desperately looking for survivors.

The Greek Fire Service reported that at least 36 people were killed on Tuesday night, just before midnight, in Tempi, central Greece, close to the city of Larissa, when a passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train.

In addition, 66 patients, including six in intensive care units, were being treated for their wounds in hospitals.

According to Greek Health Minister Thanos Plevris, the identification of the victims has also started.

Speaking outside the hospital in Larissa, Plevris said: “As you understand this is a terrifying process for parents and relatives who are here. We will help them as much as we can.”

He said there were “some difficulties” in the identification process, but added that, “Those injured are in relatively good condition.”

“We just heard a bang… the (train) car started spinning, before ending up sideways when we managed to exit,” one male passenger told Greek public broadcaster ERT.

“It was 10 nightmarish seconds with fire, you couldn’t see much from the smoke,” said a second passenger.

The first carriages of the passenger train are the main focus of recovery efforts, according to the Greek Fire Service. There will probably be more fatalities.

Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece and known for its festivals and active cultural life, was where the passenger train was headed from the nation’s capital Athens. The collision happened after a national carnival that took place over the weekend and ended with a holiday on Monday.

The Greek railway company, Hellenic Train, said in a press release that there was “a head-on collision between two trains: a freight train and train IC 62 which had departed from Athens to Thessaloniki.”

Authorities said it is still not clear what led to the collision.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent