Greece’s Tempe (AP) — At least 36 people were killed and 85 were injured in a catastrophic collision between a passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning from vacation, and an approaching freight train in northern Greece, authorities said on 1 March 2023(Wednesday).
After the collision just before midnight on Tuesday in the town of Tempe, as the passenger train was coming out of a motorway underpass, many cars derailed and at least three caught fire…
Floodlights were used by rescuers to illuminate the area as they desperately looked through the smoldering, torn-apart wreckage for survivors on Wednesday morning.
They started using the big machinery that had been brought in to start dismantling the trains after daybreak. Emergency personnel was concentrating on what looked to be the third passenger carriage of the train, which was sitting atop the wreckage of the first two.
Many of the passengers on the Athens to Thessaloniki train, according to the authorities, were university students going home after attending Carnival during the long weekend.
Deputy Health Minister Mina Gaga described the incident as “a tragic tragedy that is difficult to grasp.” “I am extremely sorry for these children’s parents.”
Later in the day, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was scheduled to stop by the scene.
A train crash in Greece killed 36 people, for more check the tweet below:
Breaking News: At least 36 people were killed when a passenger train collided with a freight train in northern Greece, officials said. https://t.co/ghCR9Plb3s
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 1, 2023
According to survivors, the impact caused several passengers to be flung out of the railway cars and out the windows. They claimed that after the passenger train derailed and crashed into a field next to a gorge, around 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, others struggled to free themselves.
There were numerous large steel fragments, “Vassilis Polyzos, a resident, claimed to have arrived on the scene first. “The trains—both passenger and freight trains—were destroyed.
He claimed that as he approached, confused and dazed passengers were making their way out of the train’s back cars.
Naturally, people were terrified—very terrified, he claimed. They were searching and circling because they were lost.
According to Yannis Nitsas, president of the Greek Railroad Workers Union, eight rail workers—two of the drivers of the freight train and two of the drivers of the passenger train—were among those killed in the collision.
The Valley of Tempe, a ravine dividing Thessaly and Macedonia, is where the trains collided. Thessaly’s regional governor, Costas Agorastos, told Greece’s Skai Television that the two trains hit head-on and quickly.
“Carriage one and two no longer exist, and the third has derailed,” he said.
In the dense smoke, rescuers wearing headlamps searched for trapped persons by removing twisted metal from the automobiles. Using flashlights, others searched the area around the wreckage. It’s thought that a number of the deceased were discovered in the dining car, which was located close to the front of the passenger train.
According to Greece’s firefighting service, 66 patients, including six in intensive care, were hospitalized.
According to Vassilis Varthakoyiannis, a spokesman for the fire department, “the evacuation operation is underway and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains.”
There was no apparent indication of what might have caused the incident. Police were questioning two rail officials, but they weren’t being held.
Buses were used to take passengers to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north if they had just minor injuries or were unscathed. As they arrived, police took their identities to find anyone who could be missing.
A teen survivor who wished to remain anonymous to reporters claimed that shortly before the collision, he experienced hard braking and witnessed sparks, followed by an abrupt stop.
He remarked, clearly startled, “Our carriage didn’t derail, but the ones in front did and were shattered.”
He continued by saying that he used a bag to put out the fire in the first car, the fourth, and escape.
About 350 people were on board the northbound passenger train to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, according to rail operator Hellenic Train.
On state television, Agorastos described the crash as “extremely forceful.” “and declared that the night was “awful.”
“The train’s front section was destroyed. Cranes and specialized lifting tools will be brought in to remove the debris and elevate the rail carriages. The collision location is littered with debris.”
According to officials, the army was asked for assistance.
The Italian FS Group, which also operates train services in numerous other European nations, operates Greek Train, which just began offering high-speed services.
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