TEMPE, Greece (AP) – Rescuers searched for survivors late Wednesday night amid the mangled, charred wreckage of two trains that collided in northern Greece, killing at least 43 people. and crushing wagons in the twisting iron knots of the nation’s deadliest railroad. crash.
The impact just before midnight on Tuesday threw some passengers through ceilings and out of windows.
“My head hit the roof of the car when it shook,” Stefanos Gogakos, who was in the back car, told state broadcaster ERT. He said the windows were broken, glass was showered on the passengers.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the collision between a passenger train and a freight train “a terrible railway accident that our country is unaware of,” and promised a full, independent investigation.
He said it appeared the crash was “mainly due to a terrible human error,” but did not elaborate.
The train from Athens to Thessaloniki was carrying 350 passengers, most of whom were students returning from wild Carnival celebrations.. While the track is double, the two trains travel in opposite directions on the same line near the Vale of Tempe, a river valley about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens.
STATIONMASTER ARRESTED; MINISTRY RESIGNED
The authorities arrested the stationmaster at the last stop of the train, in the city of Larissa. They did not release the man’s name or the reason for the arrest, but the station manager is responsible for the rail traffic on the tracks. He was due to appear before a prosecutor on Thursday to be formally charged.
Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned, saying he resigned “as a basic sign of respect for the memory of people who died unjustly.”
Karamanlis said he is making “every effort” to improve the railway system which is “in a state not suitable for the 21st century.”
But, he added, “If something like this tragedy happens, it’s impossible to continue as if nothing happened.”
The union representing train workers announced a 24-hour strike for Thursday, as protests by leftist groups erupted in Athens on Wednesday. Athens metro workers have also called a 24-hour strike for Thursday, saying they face similar problems as railway employees.
WRECKAGE MAKES RESCUES DIFFICULT
Emergency workers used cranes and other heavy machinery to move large pieces of the trains, which revealed dozens of bodies and mutilated corpses. The operation continued throughout the night, with firefighters continuing to repair the damage.
“There may be no survivors, but hope dies in the end,” said rescuer Nikos Zygouris.
The chief coroner of Larissa, Roubini Leondari, said that 43 bodies were brought to him for examination and required DNA identification because they were badly damaged.
“Most (of the bodies) are young people,” he told ERT. “They’re in bad shape.”
Greece’s fire service said 57 people remained hospitalized on Wednesday, including six in intensive care. More than 15 others were discharged after treatment.
More than 200 people who were unharmed or suffered minor injuries were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. The police took their names when they arrived, in an effort to track down anyone who went missing.
Hellenic Train, which operates all passenger and freight trains in Greece, including those involved in the crash, offered its “heartfelt condolences” to the families of the victims. The company belongs to the Italian state railways.
Eight train employees were among the dead, including two freight train drivers and two passenger train drivers, according to Yannis Nitsas, president of the Greek Railroad Workers Union.
The union has called a one-day strike to protest what it says has been chronic neglect of Greek railways by successive governments.
“Unfortunately, our long-standing demands for hiring staff, better training and above all the use of modern safety technology are often in the waste basket,” it said in a statement.
PASSENGERS SAID THE TRAIN CRASH WAS LIKE AN EXPLOSION
A teenage survivor who did not give his name to reporters said that before the crash he felt sudden braking and saw sparks – and then there was a sudden stop.
“Our carriage didn’t derail, but the one ahead was broken,” he said, visibly shaken. He used a bag to break the window of his car, the fourth, and escaped.
Gogakos said the crash sounded like an explosion, and some smoke entered the carriage. He said that some passengers escaped through the windows but after a few minutes, the crew managed to open the doors and let the people out.
Several cars derailed, and at least one caught fire.
“Temperatures reached 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 degrees Fahrenheit), making it more difficult to identify the people inside,” said fire service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis.
A man who tried to determine the fate of his daughter, who was on the train, said he had a terrible phone conversation with her before she was cut off.
“He said to me, ‘We’re on fire. … My hair is on fire,’” he told ERT, without giving his name.
GREECE FROM CARNIVAL TO MOURNING
Many of the passengers were students returning to Thessaloniki from Carnival, but officials said no detailed passenger list was available. This year is the first time that the festival, which precedes Lent, is celebrated in full since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
The government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday, while flags flew at half-staff outside all European Commission buildings in Brussels.
Visiting the scene of the accident, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said the government should help the injured recover and identify the dead.
“I can guarantee one thing: We will find out the reasons for this tragedy, and we will do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again,” Mitsotakis said.
It was the nation’s deadliest railroad crash on record. In 1968, 34 people died in a crash in the southern Peloponnese region.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou stopped an official visit to Moldova to visit the scene, laying flowers next to the wreckage.
Pope Francis offered condolences to the families of the dead in a message sent to the president of the Greek bishops’ conference by the Vatican’s secretary of state,
Condolences poured in from around the world, including neighboring Turkey, Greece’s historic regional rival. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed grief and wished for a speedy recovery for the injured, his office said.
Despite frosty relations between the two NATO members, the Greek leadership called on Erdogan last month after a massive earthquake killed tens of thousands in Turkey.
In Athens, several hundred members of leftist groups marched Wednesday to protest the train’s death. Minor clashes broke out as some protesters threw stones at the offices of Greece’s rail operator and riot police and set garbage cans on fire. No arrests or injuries were reported.
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Paphitis is reported from Athens, Greece. Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and Patrick Quinn and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this story.
