A passenger train carrying hundreds of people collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in a fiery accident in northern Greece, killing 32 and injuring at least 85, authorities said Wednesday.
Several cars derailed and at least three caught fire after the collision near the city of Tempe on Tuesday just before midnight. Rescue teams lit up the scene with floodlights before dawn Wednesday as they frantically searched for survivors among the twisted and smoking wreckage.
Survivors said several passengers were thrown out of the windows of the train cars due to the impact. They said others struggled to free themselves after the passenger train twisted and crashed into a trackside field near a gorge about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, where major highways and tunnels are located. railwaymen.
“There were a lot of big pieces of steel,” said Vassilis Polyzos, a local resident who was one of the first people to arrive on the scene. “The trains were completely destroyed, both passenger and cargo.”
He said dazed and disoriented people were escaping from the rear carriages of the train when it arrived.
“People naturally were scared, very scared,” he said. “They were looking around, searching; They didn’t know where they were.”
The trains collided just before the Valley of Tempe, a gorge that separates the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, regional governor of the Thessaly area, told Greek Skai television that the two trains collided head-on at high speed.
“Cars one and two no longer exist, and the third has derailed,” he said.
Rescuers wearing headlamps worked through thick smoke, removing pieces of shattered metal from cars to search for trapped people. Others scoured the field with flashlights and checked under the wreckage. Several of the dead are believed to have been found in the restaurant area near the front of the passenger train.
Hospital officials in the nearby city of Larissa said at least 25 of the injured had serious injuries.
“The evacuation process is continuing and is taking place in very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” said Vassilis Varthakoyiannis, a spokesman for Greece’s firefighting service.
The possible cause of the collision was not immediately clear. The police were questioning two railway officials, but they had not been arrested.
Passengers who suffered minor injuries or were uninjured were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. Police took their names as they arrived in an effort to track down anyone who might be missing.
A teenage survivor who did not give his name told reporters that just before the crash he felt hard braking and saw sparks and then came to a sudden stop.
“Our wagon didn’t derail, but the ones ahead did and were wrecked,” he said, visibly shaken.
He added that the first car caught fire and that he used a bag to break the window of his car, the room, and escape.
Rail operator Hellenic Train said the northbound passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, had around 350 passengers on board.
Agorastos described the collision on state television as “very powerful” and said it was “a terrible night.”
“The forward section of the train was destroyed. … We are bringing in special cranes and lifting equipment to clear the rubble and lift the wagons. There is debris scattered all over the crash site.
Authorities said the military had been contacted to help.
Hellenic Train, which has added high-speed services in recent years, is operated by Italy’s FS Group, which operates rail services in several European countries.
