In the worst railway tragedy in Greek history, at least 40 people have died and more than a hundred have been injured when a passenger train with 350 people collided late Tuesday night with a freight convoy. The incident, which has already resulted in the resignation of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Konstantinos Karamanlis, occurred near the town of Tempo, some 380 kilometers north of the Hellenic capital, and occurred when both trains collided at high speed by coinciding on the same road, which caused the partial derailment of the Intercity coming from Athens and headed for Thessaloniki, the second city in the country.
The first wagons were destroyed by the crash and the fire that followed, with temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees Celsius, according to Giorgos Manoli, mayor of Tempo. Among the deceased are eight railway employees, four of whom were the respective engineers of the trains involved.
Karamanlis explained this Wednesday in a note broadcast by local media and after visiting the scene that he considers it a “duty” to stop being the Minister of Transport, as “a small gesture of respect” for the people who have died “unfairly”. ». In this sense, he has assumed first-hand “responsibility for the deficiencies of the State and the Greek political system for years. “When something so terrible happens, we cannot continue to act as if nothing had happened,” he remarked.
At this time, rescue operations continue in the area of the accident by 150 firefighters and dozens of toilets, who use cranes and heavy machinery to remove the jumble of iron in which the wagons were reduced and thus try to recover the lifeless bodies. of travelers. They were mostly university students returning to their places of residence after a festive bridge to mark the start of Orthodox Lent. “I had never seen anything like it in my life. Five hours later we continue to find bodies,” one of the members of the rescue teams told the local media. Two hospitals in the nearby city of Larisa have been put into a state of alarm to receive the injured, 25 of whom are in serious condition.
The Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has gone to the place where the incident occurred, proclaiming three days of national mourning for the tragedy. According to the government spokesman, Yannis Economou, an investigation has been opened to clarify how it was possible that the two convoys traveled several kilometers on the same road until the crash took place. It is not ruled out that the accident occurred due to human error. For this reason, the authorities have arrested the head of the station for his possible responsibility in the crash.
“Our wagon did not derail, but the ones in the front part are destroyed,” said a teenager who did not want to give his name, as reported by the AP agency. This survivor has recounted that before the crash he heard the noise of the brake, sparks flew and then there was a violent stop. He managed to escape through the window after breaking the glass with his backpack. “I am not injured, but I have blood stains from the injured people who were next to me,” another visibly shocked traveler told local media.
“The trains are completely destroyed, both the passenger and freight trains,” said Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who was among the first to arrive at the crash site. There he met several travelers trying to get out of the rear cars of the convoy. “They were very scared and looking around, they didn’t even know where they were,” he pointed out.
At the Thessaloniki train station, where the survivors who were not serious were taken by bus, there were moments of great tension for the families of the travelers. “My son does not answer the phone,” said an anguished mother waiting to receive news from her relative, as reported by the Reuters agency. Another woman ran to hug her daughter as soon as she got off the bus, but she asked her not to because of the pain she was in from the accident. “There were burning cables everywhere and we were burning ourselves as we escaped. The fire was on one side and on the other and we were in a panic,” explained Stergio Minenis, 28.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has expressed her condolences to the Greek people for the “terrible incident” and has assured: “All of Europe is in mourning with you.” The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, expressed her gratitude for the work of “all the lifeguards and medical personnel”, as did the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.