Greek transport minister resigns over train accident; 36 dead

TEMPES, Greece (AP) — Rescuers Wednesday searched burning carriages for survivors and bodies after a passenger train and freight train crashed head-on in central Greece overnight, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens.

Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his “duty” to step down “as an essential sign of respect for the memory of people who died unjustly.”

It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to crash near the Tempe Valley, about 380 kilometers (235 miles) north of Athens, but the station manager was arrested in the nearby city of Larissa on Wednesday. The police did not release his name. Two other people have been detained for questioning.

It is unclear how fast the two trains were traveling when they collided with each other just before midnight on Tuesday, but state broadcaster ERT said the speed was more than 140 kilometers per hour (87 mph).

Survivors said the collision threw several passengers through the windows of the train cars. ERT quoted rescuers as saying they had found the bodies of some victims 30-40 meters (100-130 feet) from the impact site.

Stefanos Gogakos said it felt like an explosion, while flames from his rear carriage could be seen at the front of the train.

“The windows shattered and fell on top of us,” he told ERT. “My head hit the roof of the carriage. Some people started to run out of the windows because there was smoke in the carriage. The doors were locked but within a few minutes the staff of the train opened them and we got off.”

Multiple cars derailed and at least three cars caught fire. On Wednesday, one of the carriages lay on top of the crumpled remains of two others.

“Temperatures have reached 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 Fahrenheit), which makes it even more difficult to identify the people in them,” said fire service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyannis.

Many of the 350 people on the passenger train were students returning from Greece’s raucous Carnivalofficials said. This year was the first time the three-day festival, which precedes Lent, has been fully celebrated since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, visiting the scene, said the government should help the injured recover and identify the dead.

“I can guarantee one thing: we will find out the reasons for this tragedy and we will do everything we can so that nothing like this happens again,” said Mitsotakis.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou cut short an official visit to Moldova to visit the site of the accident, and laid flowers next to the wreckage.

The government declared three days of national mourning from Wednesday, while flags were flown at half-staff outside all European Commission buildings in Brussels.

Pope Francis offered his condolences to the families of the dead, in a letter sent by the Vatican’s Secretary of State to the President of the Greek Bishops’ Conference on his behalf,

The letter stated that the pope “sends his prayers to all those affected by this tragedy.”

On Wednesday, rescuers turned to cranes and other heavy machinery to begin moving large pieces of the train, uncovering more bodies and dismembered remains. Officials said the military has been contacted for assistance.

Rescuer Lazarus Saryanidis told state broadcaster ERT that rescue crews were trying “very carefully” to separate steel, sheet metal and other materials that were bent by the collapse. “It will take a long time,” Sarianidis said.

Kostas Agorastos, the regional governor of Thessaly region, told Greece’s Skai TV that the two trains collided at high speed.

“The first and second carts are no longer there, and the third is derailed,” he said.

The trains crashed just before the Tempe Valley, a narrow gorge separating the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia.

“There were many large pieces of steel,” said Vassilis Polizos, a local resident who said he was one of the first people on the scene. “The trains are completely destroyed, both passenger and freight trains.”

He said that dizzy and disoriented people were fleeing from the rear cars of the train as it arrived.

“People were, of course, afraid — very afraid,” he said. “They were looking around, searching; they didn’t know where they were.”

The head of the Hellenic Railway Workers’ Union, Yannis Nitsas, said eight railway employees were among those killed in the accident, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train.

Greece’s fire service said 66 people had been taken to hospital, including six in intensive care.

More than 200 people who were unharmed in the crash or with minor injuries were taken by bus to Thessaloniki, 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the north. The police took their names when they arrived, in an effort to track down anyone who might be missing.

Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis, barely able to hold back tears, told reporters at the crash site that the authorities would investigate “in all seriousness and with full transparency” the causes of the accident.

“We will do everything we can to investigate the causes and leave nothing under the rug,” Karamanlis said.

An unnamed teenage survivor told reporters that he felt hard braking just before the crash and saw sparks – then suddenly stopped.

“Our carriage did not derail, but the one in front got off and crashed,” he said, apparently shaken.

He added that the first car caught fire and that he used a bag to break the window of his fourth car and escape.

Railway operator Hellenic Train said the passenger train heading north to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, had about 350 passengers on board.

Hellenic Train is operated by the Italian FS Group, which operates rail services in several European countries.

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Patrick Quinn and David Rising contributed to this story from Bangkok. Jatopoulos reported from Athens.