Carriages catch fire: Death toll in Greece train crash

The carriages caught fire

Status: 03/01/2023 03:30 am

At least 26 people have been killed and many injured after two trains collided in Greece. Many carriages caught fire. The accident happened about 350 kilometers north of Athens.

At least 26 people have died and more than 80 have been injured in a train crash in Greece, according to rescue workers. A collision occurred between a passenger train and a freight train on the route between Athens and Thessaloniki. Many wagons derailed and some caught fire.

The search for survivors is ongoing, fire department spokesman Vassilis Tradnogiannis said. The collision between the two trains was so serious that evacuation of the passengers took place under very difficult conditions. “Most of the injured have head injuries, broken hips, arms and legs. Unfortunately, many people are still trapped in the rubble,” a rescue team member told reporters at the scene.

Konstantinos Agorastos, governor of the Thessaly region, said the two trains collided head-on. The first two wagons were “almost completely destroyed” by the impact.

Several derailed wagons with broken windows and thick clouds of smoke were seen on TV. Garbage was lying on the street. In the wagons, rescuers searched for trapped passengers with torches.

“There was panic in the wagons, people were screaming,” said one young man, who was evacuated to a nearby bridge. About 250 passengers were brought to Thessaloniki by bus, Governor Agorastos said.

The accident happened just before midnight on the busiest Greek railway line near the city of Larissa. According to the Greek Railways, there were about 350 passengers on board the passenger train. The cause of the accident is still unclear.

The Athens – Thessaloniki route has been modernized in recent years. Greek Railways (Hellenic Railways) is operated by the Italian state railway Ferroviaria dello Stato Italiano (FS). Despite the modernization, railway workers reported to Greek broadcaster Real FM that there were significant problems with the electronic integration of traffic control.

With information from Jörg Seisselberg, ARD Studio Rome