They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field near the gorge, about 235 miles north of Athens. The passenger train, carrying around 350 people, crashed head-on with the freight train in Thessaly, Greece, becoming the deadliest railway accident on record in the country. Survivors described scenes of horror, with the impact sending passengers hurtling through train car windows or trapping them under buckled cars. A train with over 300 passengers on board collided with a freight train. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Renting a car can be financially advantageous. The crash occurred as the passenger train emerged from a tunnel (pictured). The cause of the deadliest rail crash in Greece in decades remains unclear but the PM said it was likely 'tragic human error' Niki Kitsantonis reported from Tempe, the city nearest to the site of the train collision in Greece, and Jason Horowitz reported from Rome. Greeks began to look for answers. As Greece sought to process the tragedy, railway workers nationwide walked off the job on Thursday, saying successive governments had ignored repeated demands to improve safety standards. Firefighters collect bodies after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece early Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Elisavet, who had traveled from Athens and like her sister declined to give her surname because she did not want more exposure, said: The myth about the safety of traveling by train has finally collapsed., Mr. Karamanlis, the transport minister, who choked up earlier in the day while talking to reporters at the site of the crash, said later that he was resigning as the minimum expression of respect to the memory of those who were so unfairly lost and that he was assuming responsibility for the chronic ailments of the Greek state and the political system.. A crane, firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision in Tempe near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Green vehicles: which motorisation for which use? If you use a windshield cover, you can at least forget about scrapping the ice off your windshield to save some time and hassle. The crash occurred at 1:30 p.m. Greece police and North Greece firefighters first responded to the scene, but turned the investigation over to the State Police. The cause of the collision was not immediately clear. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told reporters after visiting the crash site that tragic human error had led to the crash, but gave no further details. I can guarantee one thing: We will find out the causes of this tragedy, and we will do all that's in our power so that something like this never happens again, Mitsotakis said. Crews were still struggling to lift one of the smashed carriages, lying on its side, to enable a search inside, Iliopoulos said. The priority now is to nurse the injured and support the families who have lost their loved ones. They wont tell us anything, she added, drawing deeply on a cigarette. Vasilis Ververidis/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. He said dazed and disoriented people were escaping out of the trains rear cars as he arrived. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed sorrow and wishes for a speedy recovery for those injured, his office said. If they had been working, the drivers would have seen the red light and the trains would have stopped 500 meters away from each other, he added, noting that he and colleagues had frequently reported malfunctioning systems recently. The prime minister said that he had appointed Giorgos Gerapetritis, who is a close aide, as a temporary successor to Mr. Karamanlis. In some cases, passengers are being identified from body parts, volunteer fireman Vassilis Iliopoulos said, warning that the death toll would rise. He said that while the government had allocated 25 million euros, about $26.5 million, for maintenance, funding and staff have been lacking in recent years.. On Wednesday, the government declared three days of national mourning. The countrys railway officials have been aware of the issue. The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains, said fire service spokesperson Vassilis Varthakoyiannis. He has worked for the town of Greece since 1997 and for the Greece Police Department for more than two decades, starting in 2000. The security camera clip showed a huge fireball rising hundreds of feet into the air immediately following the brutal impact, sparking the blaze that reduced two entire carriages to smouldering wreckage. (Giannis Papanikos/AP), Firefighters operate after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The European Union, of which Greece is a member, has binding rules on rail safety, including on conditions for issuing safety certificates for train companies, an obligation for member nations to set up national railway safety authorities and independent bodies for investigating accidents. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the two trains ran into each other at high speed just before midnight Tuesday, near the town of Tempe in northern Greece. As night fell on Wednesday, the acrid smell of charred metal hung heavy in the cold night air as a huge red crane lifted a hulk of blackened, twisted metal from the wrecked train carriages. TEMPE, Greece A passenger train collided with an oncoming freight train in northern Greece, killing at In total, 118 stories have been published about Greece, New York which Ground News has aggregated in the past 3 months. 'When something so tragic happens, we cannot continue as if nothing had happened,' Karamanlis said in a public statement. Eight rail employees were among the dead, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, according to Yannis Nitsas, president of the Greek Railroad Workers Union. We've received your submission. Condolences poured in from around the world, including neighboring Turkey, Greece's historic regional rival. First published on Wed 1 Mar 2023 14.23 EST. He resigned on Wednesday afternoon, 'I've never seen anything like this in my entire life,' said one rescue worker, emerging from the wreckage. That investigation is still in progress. The collision between a freight and passenger train occurred near Tempe, some 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, and resulted in the derailment of several train cars. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Train car carrying 30,000 gallons of propane derails in Fl Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, 11-year-old reads aloud from 'pornographic' book he checked out from library at school board meeting, Mike McCarthy shreds ex-Cowboys coordinator after firing, 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards: Lana Del Ray, Kim Petras, & more, RHOA star Drew Sidora accuses ex Ralph Pittman of cheating, mental abuse, Original Gone With The Wind script reveals secret war over slavery, cut scenes, Good luck 'worming' your way out of this one, Sunny Hostin Points Finger at China for COVID Crisis: Did Not Cooperate With the International Community, Kanye West and 'wife' Bianca Censori look surprisingly happy on dinner date. A passenger train carrying hundreds of people, including many university students returning home from holiday, collided before midnight Tuesday at high speed with an oncoming freight train. 'This is the hardest thing, instead of saving lives we have to dig out bodies.'. More than 200 people who were unharmed or suffered minor injuries were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. The union called the one-day strike to protest what it said was chronic neglect of Greeces railways by successive governments. Rescue workers in Greece frantically searched for survivors through flattened carriages and smoking wreckage on Wednesday after a high-speed, People donate blood for the injured passengers of the train collision in Larissa, about 355 kilometers (222 miles) north of Athens, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday, while flags flew at half-staff outside all European Commission buildings in Brussels. Well ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. I feel so sorry for the parents of these kids.. (George Kidonas/AP). 'There was panic the fire was immediate, as we were turning over we were being burned, fire was right and left,' said Stergios Minenis, a 28-year-old who jumped to safety. Seventeen biological samples have been collected from remains, and from 23 relatives seeking a match, the police said. A safety supervisor had resigned last year, warning that infrastructure upgrades pending since 2016 were incomplete and that train speeds of up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) an hour were unsafe. In those three and a half years we made every effort to improve this reality. It was the countrys deadliest rail crash on record. Students take part in a protest following a deadly train accident on February 28, 2023, near the city of Larissa, central Greece where 38 people died, outside the Hellenic Train headquarters, in Athens, on March 1. The company belongs to Italy's state railways. (Giannis Papanikos/AP), Train debris lies on the rail lines after a collision in Tempe, about 376 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, near Larissa city, Greece, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. She told me, Were on fire. Officials said the army had been contacted to assist. Greece, N.Y. Greece, N.Y. - Police are investigating a serious crash on Stone Road on Sunday evening. Eight rail employees were among those killed in the crash, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, according to Greek Railroad Workers Union President Yannis Nitsas. People, naturally, were scared very scared, he said. Minor clashes broke out as some protesters threw stones at the offices of Greece's rail operator and riot police and set dumpsters on fire. Updated: Jun 3, 2022 / 09:04 PM EDT. All rights reserved, Biden Proposes $1.6 Billion to Crack Down on COVID Relief Fraud, Child's Facetime Call Leads Police to Florida Home Where Dad Killed Daughter, 3 Others, Officials Say, This 26-Year-Old Pays $0 to Live in a Luxury Tiny Home' She Built for $35,000 in Her Backyard Take a Look Inside, 4 Ferraris Stolen on Long Island in Service Center Heist, Winter Storm May Bring More NYC Snow Friday and a Complex Mess to Millions: What to Expect. 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