When two trains collided head-on in central Greece, dozens of people were murdered, and dozens more were injured, prompting rescuers to launch a desperate hunt for survivors.
The Greek Fire Service reports that at least 29 people were killed and over 85 others were injured when a passenger train carrying around 350 collided with a freight train on Tuesday night, just before midnight, in Tempi, central Greece, near the city of Larissa.
As per CNN.com, One male passenger told Greek public broadcaster ERT-
“We just heard a bang… the (train) car started spinning before ending up sideways when we managed to exit.”
Said a second passenger-
“It was 10 nightmarish seconds with fire. You couldn’t see much from the smoke.”
The Greek Fire Service reported that rescue operations had begun and the death toll would likely grow. The train carried passengers from Athens, Greece’s capital, to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, known for its many cultural events and festivals. The statewide celebration and subsequent holiday on Monday led up to the collision.
Greek state television ERT aired images of overturned carriages with dense smoke billowing from them and a long line of emergency vehicles in the background. Paramedics took shell-shocked passengers away from the scene while rescue workers with torches searched the carriages.
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Images also showed people who had made it to Thessaloniki. According to Vassilis Varthakogiannis, a spokesman for the Greek Fire Service, all 194 passengers made it to Thessaloniki without incident. He also said that at least 150 firefighters and 17 rescue vehicles, and 40 ambulances were involved.
The Greek railway company, Hellenic Train, said in a press release that there was
“A head-on collision between two trains: a freight train and train IC 62 which had departed from Athens to Thessaloniki.”
