A collision of two trains kills dozens in Greece
The Greek Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Kostas Karamanlis, announced his resignation from his position following the two trains collided today, which killed at least 36 people.
“When something so tragic happens, it is impossible to go on and pretend as if nothing happened…” Karamanlis said in a statement.
He added, “This is called political responsibility. For this reason, I announce my resignation as Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.”
The accident occurred when a passenger train carrying 350 passengers collided with another freight train just before midnight on Tuesday, north of the city of Larissa in the center of the country, which led to the passenger train’s carriages derailing. .
Rescuers spent Tuesday night trying to rescue the passengers, who were trapped, while no accurate information was available yet regarding the causes of the accident.
But Nikos Tsikalakis, head of the trade union federation representing Hellenic Railways workers, said the initial conclusion from the investigation into the accident was that it was the result of human error.
However, local media quoted Tsikalakis as saying that there was more than one factor that contributed to the accident, and that the full picture of the circumstances surrounding it was not yet known.
In an interview with Radio Inna, he referred to the shortage of workers in the railway network, saying that while there should be more than 2,000 workers nationwide, there are currently only 750 workers.
Greek media reported the disaster as “the worst railway accident Greece has ever seen”.
Footage published on local news websites showed thick plumes of smoke rising from derailed train cars.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis earlier visited the scene of the accident in Tambe, near the city of Larissa.
Mitsotakis saw first-hand the extent of the devastation as he passed by the derailed carriages, whose windows had been smashed hours earlier by surviving passengers in order to save their lives.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “Our thoughts today are first and foremost with the relatives of the victims.”
He added, “Our duty is to treat the wounded and then identify the bodies.”
He continued, “I guarantee that we will know the reasons for this tragedy, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that this does not happen once more.”
And the Greek government announced that the state would pay for the funerals of those who died in the crash.
According to local media, the decision to pay for the funerals was taken by Interior Minister Makis Foridis and Finance Minister Christos Stekouras.
The national flags were flown at half-mast on all public buildings in the country and all public events were suspended as part of a three-day public mourning period.
The Greek government held a crisis meeting, following which Health Minister Thanos Plevis went to the scene while Interior Minister Makis Foridis supervised the situation from the Crisis Management Center with police chiefs and fire and rescue teams.
The mayor of Tampa (near the accident site) Yorgos Manolis said that a large number of students were on the train on their way back to Thessaloniki following a long weekend due to a public holiday in Greece.
image copyright AFP
After getting out of the wreckage exhausted, a medic recounted, trying to extract the bodies of passengers: “I have never seen anything like this before. This is tragic. Five hours have passed and we are still finding bodies.”
One of the vehicles was completely crushed, which made it very difficult for the paramedics to intervene, while other vehicles were partially destroyed, according to Agence France-Presse.
Vassilis Varthakoyannis, a spokesman for the fire service, said rescue workers were working in “very difficult” conditions.
He added, “The evacuation process is underway under very difficult circumstances, due to the seriousness of the collision between the two trains.”
image copyright Archyde.com
“There was panic. There was chaos for 10 to 15 seconds. Falling upside down, fires, hanging wires, broken windows, people screaming and people trapped,” said one of the train passengers.
“It was like an earthquake,” another passenger, Angelos Tsiamuras, told local media.
Another passenger, Lazus, described the experience to Protothema newspaper as “absolutely horrible”.
“I was not hurt, but I was covered in the blood of other people who were injured near me,” he said.
One of the passengers told the media: “When the accident occurred, we were stunned because the windows were suddenly shattered and people were screaming and panicked.”
The shocked young man added, “Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and quickly got out. In other vehicles, they might not get out and caught fire.”
Many of the injured were taken to the two hospitals in the area.
And the relief teams stressed that the military hospital in both Thessaloniki and Athens is “ready” in case of necessity.
This is the worst incident in Europe in years. And in July 2013, 80 people were killed in Spain when a train traveling at 179 kilometers per hour veered off a curve that was not allowed to be crossed at speeds greater than 80 kilometers per hour, just before reaching Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.