Sixteen people died and least 85 were injured after two trains collided in Greece late on Tuesday, the fire brigade said, while the circumstances of the crash remained unclear.
The two trains – a passenger train travelling from Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki, and a cargo train from Thessaloniki to Larissa, collided head on outside the city of Larissa in central Greece, Konstantinos Agorastos, governor of the broader Thessaly region, told SKAI TV.
“The collision was very strong,” he said, adding that the first four carriages had derailed, while the first two were“almost completely destroyed.”
MrAgorastos said about 250 passengers were evacuated safely to Thessaloniki on buses.
Broadcaster SKAI showed footage of derailed carriages, badly damaged with broken windows and thick plumes of smoke, as well as debris strewn across the road. Rescue workers were seen carrying torches in carriages looking for trapped passengers.
JUST IN: Cargo train and passenger train collide in Central Greece, several dead multiple injured.. pic.twitter.com/TG9nVmsSmE
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) February 28, 2023
“There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,” a young man who was evacuated to a nearby bridge told SKAI TV. “It was like an earthquake,” Angelos Tsiamouras, another passenger, told ERT.
Multiple train cars derailed and at least three caught fire after the crash near Tempe, some 380 kilometres (235 miles) north of Athens. Hospital officials in the nearby city of Larissa said at least 60 people had been hurt, 25 of them seriously.
Rescuers wearing head lamps worked in thick smoke, pulling pieces of mangled sheet metal from the crashed rail cars to search for trapped people.
Government officials said the army has been contacted to assist in the rescue and that two additional hospitals in Larissa had been placed in emergency duty.
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