At least 26 killed, dozens injured in Greece train crash

DEVELOPING STORY,

Rescue effort under way after passenger train carrying 350 people collided with a cargo train near central city of Larissa.

At least 26 people have been killed and dozens injured after a head-on collision between a passenger and cargo train in Greece.

The crash took place outside the central city of Larissa late on Tuesday when a passenger train heading from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki collided with a cargo train travelling from Thessaloniki leaving three carriages in flames.

“At least 26 people have been found dead so far,” a fire services spokesman told the media at a press conference.

The fire brigade said the circumstances of the crash remained unclear, with rescue efforts continuing at the site.

At least 85 people were hurt, officials said.

“The collision was very strong,” Konstantinos Agorastos, the governor of the Thessaly region told SKAI TV, adding the first four carriages of the passenger train had derailed, while the first two carriages were “almost completely destroyed”.

Agorastos said about 250 passengers, some with minor injuries, had been evacuated safely by bus to Thessaloniki about 130 kilometres (80 miles) away.

SKAI showed footage of derailed and crushed carriages with cargo containers flipped over and crash debris strewn across the road. Rescue workers with high-powered torches and headlamps were searching in carriages for trapped passengers.

A major emergency response was under way involving police and firefighters. Hospital units used to treat burn victims in the area had been alerted, and dozens of ambulances dispatched.

“There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,” a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told SKAI TV.

A passenger named Lazos told the newspaper Protothema that the experience had been “very shocking”.

“I wasn’t hurt but I was stained with blood from other people who were hurt near me,” he said.

Rail operator Hellenic Train reported about 350 people were on the train.

“The evacuation of passengers is under way in very difficult conditions given the severity of the collision of the two trains,” fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis said in a televised address.