A fire broke out in one of the three cars of a passenger train that derailed after the collision with a freight train, near the city of Larissa, in the center of the country.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
As often in this kind of disaster, the balance sheet is only provisional and risks tragically evolving. A collision between a freight train and a passenger train traveling between Athens and Thessaloniki, in Greece, made on the night of Tuesday February 28 to Wednesday 1
“At least sixteen people have been found dead so far,” said a spokesperson for Greek firefighters at a press conference, adding that the rescue operation was still in progress. He added that “85 people were injured and transported to the local hospitals”.
The spokesman confirmed that three wagons derailed near Larissa, in the center of the country 350 km north of Athens, after the collision between a freight train and another convoy carrying 350 passengers. One of the wagons caught fire and several people found themselves trapped, according to the public television Ert.
“Something very shocking”
On the Skai television channel, Kostas Agorastos, the region’s governor, said that “more than 250 passengers were transferred by bus to Thessaloniki”. “Unfortunately the number of injured and deaths may be high,” he continued. A government crisis meeting was organized.
“We have experienced something very shocking,” said Lazos, a passenger interviewed by the protothema newspaper. “I am not injured but I am stained with the blood of the other people who were injured next to me,” he said.
The two hospitals in the Larissa region were requisitioned to welcome the many injured , according to the local media onlarissa.