Train collision near the Greek city of Larisa, March 1, 2023.
Athens – At least 32 people were killed and another 85 killed in a head-on collision between two trains in Greece they were injured. It was reported today by the Reuters agency, according to which it is the most tragic railway accident in the country in the last few decades. Near the city of Larisa in the central part of the country, a passenger train heading from Athens to Thessaloniki collided with a freight train traveling from Thessaloniki to Larisa at high speed on the night of today.
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Photo gallery: Train collision in Greece
Several wagons derailed and caught fire after the collision, world agencies reported earlier. Many passengers suffered burns. “We heard a huge bang. It was a terrible ten seconds. We were rolling over in the carriage until we fell on our side,” described 28-year-old passenger Sterjos Minenis. Then panic and chaos broke out, he said. “Fire, hanging cables, broken windows, people screaming, people trapped,” Minenis said.
According to the media, about 350 people were traveling on the intercity train. “The evacuation of passengers is taking place in very difficult conditions due to the seriousness of the collision between the two trains,” described fire brigade spokesman Vasilis Varthakoyannis.
Earlier information spoke of 26 victims and eight dozen wounded.
Firefighters said that they were informed of the accident shortly before Tuesday midnight local time (around 11 p.m. CET). The Skai station broadcast images of derailed and heavily damaged wagons and thick smoke, writes Reuters. Rescue workers with flashlights on their foreheads pulled pieces of metal from the cars in the thick smoke to search for trapped people, the AP reported. According to the BBC, around 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances were on the scene.
Passengers who suffered minor injuries or were unharmed were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers north of the accident site, according to the BBC. Authorities have contacted the military to help with rescue efforts, the AP reported.
Greece's aging rail system is in need of modernization, with many lines running on single track and many places still lacking signaling and automatic control systems, Reuters reported. He also recalled that 19 people died in the head-on collision of two trains in Larisa in 1972.
