The first three carriages of the passenger train have reached temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees, according to local authorities
Train station manager arrested after deadly accident
The images of the terrible collision of two trains in Greece
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At least 36 people have died and more than 80 have been injured after two trains collided head-on near the Greek town of Tempe, in the center of the country. The station manager has been arrested by the police. “The station chief, 59, has been arrested,” a local police spokesman told AFP, adding that the charges would be announced shortly.
Some 342 passengers and 10 crew members were traveling on the trains, one for goods and the other for passengers, according to the fire department in its latest update a few minutes ago. The two engineers would have died due to the strong impact of the collision and the speed of the convoys. The passenger train had departed hours before from Athens in the direction of Thessaloniki, the second city in Greece in number of inhabitants and located in the north of the country. Among the passengers were many university students who were returning to the university after the carnival bridge.
Several wagons have derailed
Three of the derailed wagons caught fire, complicating the rescue efforts, which are still ongoing. The most seriously injured have been transferred to the hospital in the city of Larisa, on mainland Greece, while the slightly injured have been taken to the city of Thessaloniki. Sixty-six of the eighty-five injured are hospitalized and are evolving favorably. Six injured have been admitted to the ICU with a reserved prognosis, according to a recent statement from the area fire department.
The work to identify the corpses has been launched and according to the Greek media, there would still be dozens of missing people among the remains of the wagons.
The case, in the hands of the Prosecutor’s Office
Stamatis Daskalópulos, prosecutor of Larisa, has affirmed that at this moment there is a person related to the accident declaring and that the investigation of the event is in an initial stage and the causes are still unknown.
The two trains collided head-on while traveling at high speed. The reasons why both trains were on the same track at the time of the crash still remains to be clarified.
official three-day mourning
The Greek Prime Minister has gone to the scene and mourning has been declared for three days and all the festive events of the Orthodox Lent that began this Monday have been cancelled.