32 people were killed in a collision between a freight train and a passenger train in Greece, 53 out of 85 injured remain in hospitals, the rest have been discharged, Greek fire service spokesman Vassilis Vartakoyannis said live on Greek public television ERT.
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“At the moment, the death of 32 people has been confirmed. Of the 85 wounded who were transported to hospitals, 53 have been hospitalized, the rest have been discharged,” he said.
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The trains collided in the town of Tempi near the city of Larisa around midnight. The incident occurred under circumstances that have not yet been clarified at the Evangelismos station, more than 200 kilometers northwest of Athens. After the collision, a fire broke out, three wagons derailed.
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150 firefighters are participating in the operation to unblock people, and 40 ambulances have been sent to the scene.
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“Firefighters’ efforts are now focused on the first two cars of the passenger train, which have overturned and are the most difficult to extract people from,” a fire service spokesman said.
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According to the TV channel, there were 350 people on the train. According to preliminary data, the Athens-Thessaloniki passenger train departed at 19:22.
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The website of the Hellenic Train company on Tuesday informed about constant delays in the movement of trains. In particular, the Athens-Thessaloniki train departed 48 minutes late. The train from Thessaloniki to Athens was delayed by 70 minutes.
