Rescue crews illuminated the scene with floodlights earlier than daybreak on Wednesday as they searched frantically by the twisted, smoking wreckage for survivors. After dawn, they turned to heavy equipment that had been introduced in to start out shifting massive items of the trains.
Officers stated lots of the passengers on board the Athens to Thessaloniki practice had been college college students returning house after celebrating Carnival over the lengthy weekend.
“This can be a horrible tragedy that’s arduous to grasp,” stated Deputy Well being Minister Mina Gaga. “I really feel so sorry for the dad and mom of those youngsters.”
Survivors stated a number of passengers have been thrown by the home windows of the practice automobiles because of the affect. They stated others fought to free themselves after the passenger practice buckled, slamming right into a subject close to a gorge, about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens.
“There have been many massive items of metal,” stated Vassilis Polyzos, a neighborhood resident who stated he was one of many first folks on the scene. “The trains have been utterly destroyed, each passenger and freight trains.”
He stated dazed and disoriented folks have been escaping out of the practice’s rear automobiles as he arrived.
“Individuals, naturally, have been scared — very scared,” he stated. “They have been wanting round, looking out; they didn’t know the place they have been.”
The trains crashed simply earlier than the Vale of Tempe, a gorge that separates the areas of Thessaly and Macedonia. Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly space, informed Greece’s Skai Tv the 2 trains crashed head on at excessive velocity.
“Carriage One and Two not exist, and the third has derailed,” he stated.
Rescuers carrying head lamps labored in thick smoke, pulling items of mangled metallic from the automobiles to seek for trapped folks. Others scoured the sector with flashlights and checked beneath the wreckage. A number of of the useless are believed to have been discovered within the restaurant automobile close to the entrance of the passenger practice.
Hospital officers within the close by metropolis of Larissa stated a minimum of 25 of these damage had severe accidents.
“The evacuation course of is ongoing and is being carried out below very tough situations because of the severity of the collision between the 2 trains,” stated Vassilis Varthakoyiannis, a spokesperson for Greece’s firefighting service.
The attainable reason for the collision was not instantly clear. Two rail officers have been being questioned by police however had not been detained.
Passengers who acquired minor accidents or have been unhurt have been transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. Police took their names as they arrived, in an effort to trace anybody who could also be lacking.
A teenage survivor who didn’t give his title informed reporters that simply earlier than the crash he felt a powerful braking and noticed sparks — then there was a sudden cease.
“Our carriage didn’t derail, however the ones in entrance did and have been smashed,” he stated, visibly shaken.
He added that the primary automobile caught fireplace and that he used a bag to interrupt the window of his automobile, the fourth, and escape.
Rail operator Hellenic Practice stated the northbound passenger practice to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest metropolis, had about 350 passengers on board.
Agorastos described the collision on state tv as “very highly effective” and stated it was “a horrible night time.”
“The entrance part of the practice was smashed. … We’re getting cranes to come back in and particular lifting gear clear the particles and carry the rail automobiles. There’s particles flung throughout the crash website.”
Officers stated the military had been contacted to help.
Hellenic Practice, which has added high-speed companies in recent times, is operated by Italy’s FS Group, which runs rail companies in a number of European nations.
Patrick Quinn and David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok. Gatopoulos reported from Athens.