Train collision in Greece leaves 32 dead, dozens more injured

Emergency services have reported at least 32 people dead and dozens more injured in the wake of a devastating train collision near the city of Larissa in northern Greece.

The incident occurred when a freight train collided head-on with a passenger train.

Governor of the Thessaly region, Konstantinos Agorastos, described the wreckage to local media channel SKAI TV.

“It was a very powerful collision,” said Agorastos to SKAI TV. He explained that the first four carriages of the passenger train were derailed, and the first two had been “almost completely destroyed.”

“This is a terrible night… It’s hard to describe the scene,” he said.

Local media reported that roughly 350 passengers were aboard the train at the time of the incident.

Agorastos said that roughly 250 of those people were safely evacuated to nearby Thessaloniki.

A large-scale rescue effort is underway at the scene of the collision, with rescuers working to save any passengers still trapped in the wreckage.

About 30 ambulances, including some dispatched from nearby towns, were sent to transport those injured by the crash.

“The evacuation of passengers is under way in very difficult conditions given the severity of the collision of the two trains,” said fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Varthakogiannis in a televised address.

The passenger train was travelling between Thessaloniki and Larissa when it crashed.

“There was panic in the carriage, people were screaming,” said a man who was evacuated from the scene.

“It was like an earthquake,” said another.

Newspaper Protothema reported on another passenger’s experience.

“I wasn’t hurt but I was stained with blood from other people who were hurt near me,” he told them.

Video footage of the crash from local media outlets shows rescuers searching through the wreckage

The cause of the incident is currently unclear, but the investigation is ongoing.