In an accident in central Greece, survivors described a “nightmarish 10 seconds” as their train car overturned and was engulfed in flames.
At least 36 people were killed and dozens more were injured when two trains collided head-on on Tuesday night near the city of Larissa.
A passenger train’s front carriages were largely obliterated.
“We heard a loud explosion,” said 28-year-old passenger Stergios Minenis, who leaped to safety from the wreckage.
“We were turning over in the carriage until we fell on our sides and until the commotion ceased. Then there was pandemonium. Cables catch flames. The conflagration started right away. As we were turning over, we were being incinerated. Reuters news agency cited Mr. Minenis as saying, “Fire was coming from all directions.
“It was pandemonium for 10 to 15 seconds. Tumbling over, fires, cables hanging, shattered windows, people screaming, people trapped.”
The passenger train was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki when it collided head-on with another freight train. Causing the front carriages to explode into flames just before midnight local time.
It has been described as the worst train accident in Greek history.
An investigation has been launched and police say they have detained a local station master in Larissa.
One traumatized passenger told that “people were panicking and screaming – some people were afraid they were going to perish.”
Giannis Antonoglou, who escaped from the fifth compartment of the passenger train, reported that the windows abruptly shattered, and “we ended up tilted 45 degrees as if we were about to fall over.”
Another individual told Skai television that he was fortunate to have escaped his carriage “pretty swiftly.” As “in other wagons, they were unable to escape, and one wagon even caught fire.”
Some passengers claimed that to escape the burning wreckage. They were compelled to break carriage windows with their bodies or luggage.
Angelos Tsiamouras told Greek broadcaster ERT the impact felt like an earthquake and smashed the train window with his suitcase. Another unidentified passenger said, “We shattered the windows with our backs.
One survivor, Lazos, told the newspaper Protothema: “I wasn’t wounded, but I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me.”
After a long weekend commemorating Greek Orthodox Lent, many of the 350 passengers on board the passenger train were 20-year-old students returning to Thessaloniki.
20 to 25 people are still missing, but Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis said the number of fatalities is unclear. However, officials claim that some individuals may have fled the scene without being located.
Later, Mr. Karamanlis resigned as a result of the tragedy, stating that he would assume responsibility for the authorities’ “longstanding failures” to fix a railway system that he deemed unfit for the 21st century.
Fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis stated that temperatures inside the first carriage reached 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,370 degrees Fahrenheit), making it “difficult to identify the individuals inside.”
A woman told the Greek television station ANT1 that her 23-year-old cousin, who was on the phone with his mother from the train shortly before the line went down, is still missing.
She continued, “His mother has been searching for him since dawn.”
Sixty-six individuals were receiving treatment for their injuries at the hospital, including six who were admitted to intensive care.
Kostas Agorastos, the regional administrator of the Thessaly region, told state television, “It was a very powerful collision.”
According to him, the first four-passenger train cars derailed, and the first two took fire and were “almost destroyed.”
“They were traveling at great speed and one (driver) didn’t know the other was approaching,” the governor added.
As daylight broke, dozens of rescue workers aided by cranes were elevating the charred remains of the derailed carriages to search for more victims.
“This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my entire existence. It’s tragic. Five hours later, we discover bodies “An exhausted rescuer emerging from the devastation told AFP news agency.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who visited the disaster site on Wednesday, pledged to determine the cause and prevent a recurrence.
Police say they have charged the 59-year-old station master for the city of Larissa with causing deaths by negligence and grievous bodily harm by negligence. The station master, who is responsible for signaling, has denied both accusations and attributed the accident to a technical malfunction.
There have been proclaimed three days of national mourning.
