Officials said Wednesday that a passenger train carrying hundreds of people collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing 32 and injuring at least 85.
After a collision near Tempe just before midnight on Tuesday, multiple cars derailed and at least three caught fire. Rescue crews used floodlights to illuminate the scene before dawn on Wednesday as they frantically searched the twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors.
According to survivors, the impact threw several passengers through the train cars’ windows. Others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled and slammed into a field next to the tracks near a gorge about 380 kilometers north of Athens, which has major highway and rail tunnels.
The trains collided just before the Vale of Tempe, a gorge that divides Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly area, told Greece’s Skai television the two trains crashed head-on at high speed.
“Carriages one and two are no longer operational, and the third has derailed,” he explained.
Rescuers wearing headlamps searched for trapped people by pulling pieces of mangled metal from the cars. Others combed the field with flashlights, looking beneath the wreckage. Several bodies are thought to have been discovered in the restaurant area near the front of the passenger train.
The cause of the collision was not observable. Police were questioning two rail officials, but they were not detained. Passengers with minor injuries or who were unharmed were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers to the north. As they arrived, police took their names to locate anyone who might be missing.
The northbound passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, was carrying approximately 350 passengers, according to rail operator Hellenic Train. On state television, Agorastos described the collision as “very powerful” and a “terrible night.”
“The train’s front section was smashed… Cranes and special lifting equipment are being brought in to clear the debris and lift the rail cars. The crash site is littered with debris.”
Officials stated that the army had been contacted for assistance.
