- Title: WRAP: Trains collide in Greece, at least 36 killed, dozens injured
- Date: 1st March 2023
- Summary: LARISSA, GREECE (MARCH 1, 2023) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF WRECKED TRAINS AT COLLISION SITE AT NIGHT LARISSA, GREECE (MARCH 1, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRAIN CRASH SITE AT NIGHT VARIOUS OF RESCUERS SEARCHING IN CRASH, FIREFIGHTERS NEAR EMERGENCY VEHICLE, RESCUERS WITH STRETCHER LARISSA, GREECE (MARCH 1, 2023) (REUTERS) FIREFIGHTERS HOLDING LIGHT VARIOUS OF RED LIGHTS OF VEHICLE SIRENS GLOWING THROUGH BROKEN WINDOWS OF TRAIN WRECKAGE VARIOUS PARTS OF TRAIN DESTROYED, WAGONS, FRONT, TRAIN LOGO ON SIDE OF WAGON, TWISTED METAL DEBRIS SURROUNDING WRECKAGE ROWS OF FIRE AND EMERGENCY VEHICLES ON BRIDGE OVERLOOKING CRASH FIREFIGHTERS NEAR EMERGENCY VEHICLES THESSALONIKI, GREECE (MARCH 1, 2023) (REUTERS) PASSENGERS FROM TRAIN CRASH ARRIVING BY BUS TO THESSALONIKI
- Embargoed: 15th March 2023 10:47
- Keywords: Greece train crash collision passenger train
- Location: LARISSA, ATHENS AND THESSALONIKI, GREECE
- City: LARISSA, ATHENS AND THESSALONIKI, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe
- Reuters ID: LVA001391901032023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE : THIS IS A WRAP OF PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED VIDEO AND CONTAINS NO NEW MATERIAL
A passenger train and a cargo train collided head-on in Greece on Tuesday (February 28) night, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens as the country's deadliest rail crash in living memory threw entire carriages off the tracks.
Many of the victims were thought to be university students on their way back from a long holiday weekend. The death toll was expected to rise further, officials said.
Cranes lifted derailed passenger carriages in the morning, as rescuers continued to scour through the smouldering mangled mass of steel. One carriage stood on its side at almost 90 degrees from the rest of the wrecked train, with others tilting precariously.
The local station master, in charge of signalling, has been arrested, a police official said, as investigators tried to find out why the two trains had been on the same track.
The crash occurred as the passenger train that was headed to the northern Greece city of Thessaloniki from the capital Athens emerged from a tunnel near the town of Larissa.
Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said the two trains had been running towards each other on the same track "for many kilometres" before the crash.
The passenger train was carrying 342 travellers and 10 crew, while two crew were on the cargo train, according to Hellenic Train data.
Sixty-six of those injured were hospitalised, six of whom in intensive care, a fire brigade official said.
Survivors were evacuated to Thessaloniki, where one woman ran to embrace her daughter as she disembarked from a bus with other survivors.
The head of the emergency unit in Larissa hospital, Apostolos Komnos, said most of the dead were young people, in their 20s.
The government declared three days of national mourning, from Wednesday (March 1) to Friday (March 3), with flags flying at half-mast in a tribute to the victims of the crash.
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou cut short a visit to Moldova to return to Greece.
The cargo train had been travelling from Thessaloniki to Larissa. Local media said the train left Athens around 7.30 pm (0530 GMT). The fire brigade said it was informed of the accident shortly before midnight.
Greece sold railway operator TRAINOSE to Italy's Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane in 2017 as part of its international bailout programme, expecting hundreds of millions of euros to be invested in rail infrastructure in the coming years.
According to the Italian company's website, it is the main provider of rail transport for passengers and freight in Greece and runs 342 passenger and commercial routes a day.
Greece's ageing railway system is in need of modernising, with many trains travelling on single tracks and signalling and automatic control systems still to be installed in many areas.
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