TEMPE, Greece (AP) — A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many students returning home from vacation, collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in a fiery disaster in northern Greece, killing 32 people and injuring at least 85, officials said. he said Wednesday.
Several cars derailed and at least three caught fire after they collided just before midnight Tuesday near Tempe as the passenger train exited a freeway underpass.
Rescue teams illuminated the scene with searchlights before dawn on Wednesday as they frantically searched through the twisted and smoldering wreckage for survivors. After dawn, they called in the heavy machines that had been brought in to begin moving large pieces of trains.
Officials said many of the passengers aboard the train from Athens to Thessaloniki were students returning home after celebrating Carnival over the long weekend.
“It’s a terrible tragedy, hard to fathom,” said Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga. “I feel so sorry for the parents of these children.”
Survivors said several passengers were thrown through the coach’s windows by the impact. They said others struggled to free themselves after the passenger train crashed into a field near a gorge, about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens.
“There were a lot of big pieces of steel,” said Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who said he was one of the first people on the scene. “The trains were completely destroyed, both passenger and freight trains.”
He said dazed and disoriented people were running from the rear carriages of the train when it arrived.
“People were obviously scared, very scared,” she said. “They looked around, searching; they didn’t know where they were.”
The trains crashed just before the Tempe Valley, a gorge that separates the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of Thessaly, told Greek television Skai that the two trains crashed head-on at high speed.
“Cars one and two are missing and the third has derailed,” he said.
Rescuers wearing headlamps worked in the thick smoke, pulling pieces of mangled metal from cars to search for people trapped. Others crossed the field with flashlights and checked under the wreckage. Many of the dead are believed to have been found in the dining car near the front of the passenger train.
Hospital officials in the nearby city of Larissa said at least 25 of the injured suffered serious injuries.
“The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out in very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” said Vassilis Varthakoyiannis, the spokesman for the Greek fire brigade.
The possible cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Two railway officials were questioned by the police but not arrested.
Passengers who suffered minor injuries or were injured were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 mi) to the north. Police took their names when they arrived in an attempt to find anyone who might be missing.
A teenage survivor, who did not give his name, told reporters that shortly before the crash, he heard heavy braking and saw sparks, then suddenly stopped.
“Our carriage did not derail, but those in front did and were crushed,” he said, visibly shaken.
He added that the first car caught fire and that he used a bag to break the window of the fourth car and escape.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, had about 350 passengers on board.
Agorastos described the collision on state television as “very strong” and said it was “a terrible night”.
“The front of the train was destroyed. … We carry cranes and special lifting equipment to clear debris and lift carts. There is debris scattered around the crash site.
Officials said the military had been approached to help.
Hellenic Train, which has added high-speed services in recent years, is operated by Italian group FS, which operates rail services in several European countries.
Patrick Quinn and David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok. Gatopoulos reported from Athens.
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