The Greek government has declared three days of mourning after a collision between two trains late on Tuesday evening left at least 40 people dead and dozens more injured.
Search and rescue teams have been working throughout the night at the crash site in the municipality of Tempi, around 24 kilometers from the city of Larissa, where approximately 20-25 people are still missing.
It is reported a passenger service train carrying approximately 350 people collided with a freight train as it emerged from a tunnel, throwing the train off the tracks. The first two carriages of the passenger train were almost completely destroyed after going up in flames as a result of the crash.
“The rescue teams are trying to move the wreckage of the carriages from the tracks, but it’s very difficult,” said Greek journalist Marina Rigou reporting at the scene.
“The collision was so severe that the two first carriages just disappeared. The mayor of the city near the incident said nothing is left from the first two carriages,” she added.
The passenger train was headed to Thessaloniki, a city with a sizeable student population, and it is feared a vast number of travelers were young people returning to their studies after the Greek Orthodox lent holiday.
“There was panic … the fire was immediate, as we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left,” said one survivor, 28-year-old Stergios Minenis, as reported by the Reuters news agency.
“We still don’t know the exact number of victims, we will investigate the reasons (for the crash) with full transparency,” Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Kostas Karamanlis told reporters.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the crash site on Wednesday morning. He told reporters a thorough investigation would be conducted to ensure a similar incident will never happen again.
“Our duty is to treat the wounded and identify the bodies,” he said in a brief statement to journalists.
“Apart from that, I can only guarantee one thing: We will find out the cause of this tragedy, and we will do everything in our power to prevent something like this from ever happening again,” he added.
The president of Greece, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, has cut short an official visit to Moldova to visit the crash site and described the crash as an “unimaginable tragedy.”
“We share the pain of those who have lost their loved ones, although we know that their pain is so great that no comforting words can ease it. We are fighting for the injured and hope they get well soon,” she added.
The incident is the deadliest train accident to occur in Greece in decades, and the rescue operation is now well underway with cranes being used to move large items of debris in a search for survivors.
