A “tragic human error” was most likely accountable for a prepare collision that left no less than 38 useless within the nation’s worst rail tragedy, mentioned Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis Wednesday.
Two carriages had been crushed and a 3rd engulfed in fireplace when a passenger prepare and a freight prepare collided late Tuesday close to the central metropolis of Larissa, on a route stricken by years of security warnings. The fireplace division added that 57 individuals had been nonetheless hospitalized, six of them in intensive care, whereas a number of had been lacking. “Everything shows that the drama was, sadly, mainly because of a tragic human error,” Mitsotakis mentioned in a televised deal with. He referred to as it a “terrible train accident without precedent” in Greece that will be “fully” investigated.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire life,” mentioned one rescue employee, rising from the wreckage. “It’s tragic. Five hours later, we are finding bodies.”
The accident left a tangled mess of metallic and shattered glass in a area.
In some circumstances, passengers are being recognized from physique elements, volunteer firefighter Vassilis Iliopoulos advised Skai TV, warning that the dying toll would rise. Seventeen organic samples have been collected from stays, and from 23 family in search of a match, the police mentioned. The passenger prepare, carrying over 350 individuals, had been touring from Athens to the northern metropolis of Thessaloniki.
“It was the train of terror,” Pavlos Aslanidis, whose son is lacking together with a pal, advised reporters.
Greece’s transport minister submitted his resignation simply hours after the accident. “When something so tragic happens, we cannot continue as if nothing had happened,” Kostas Karamanlis mentioned in a public assertion. Protests had been held Wednesday night on the Thessaloniki rail station, the town of Larissa and outdoors the Athens workplaces of the railway’s Italian-owned working firm, Hellenic Train.
In Athens, riot police fired tear gasoline at protesters throwing rocks on the workplaces of the Hellenic Train. The firm mentioned it was working intently with authorities and has supplied “financial support” to the passengers.
Years of security considerations
The 59-year-old station grasp of Larissa was arrested a number of hours after the accident and charged with negligent murder. He will seem earlier than a prosecutor on Thursday.
Government spokesperson Yiannis Economou mentioned the 2 trains had been operating on the identical monitor for “several kilometers”.
But rail union members mentioned the protection shortcomings on the Athens-Thessaloniki railway line had been identified for years. In an open letter in February, prepare workers mentioned monitor security techniques had been incomplete and poorly maintained. A security supervisor had resigned final yr, warning that infrastructure upgrades pending since 2016 was incomplete and that prepare speeds of as much as 200 kilometers (124 miles) an hour had been unsafe.
Five years after Greek rail operator Trainose was offered to Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane and have become Hellenic Train, security techniques are nonetheless not absolutely automated. Greece’s 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) railway infrastructure is overseen by the state firm OSE.
Last month, the European Commission referred Greece to courtroom for failing to signal and publish an settlement with OSE required underneath a 2012 directive. The president of the prepare drivers’ union, Kostas Genidounias, advised AFP that the accident “would have been avoided if the safety systems were working”.
‘Complete panic’
The prepare was largely carrying college students returning to Thessaloniki after an extended vacation weekend.
“It was a nightmare… I’m still shaking,” 22-year-old passenger Angelos advised Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Fortunately we had been within the penultimate automotive and we received out alive. There was a fireplace within the first automotive and full panic.
“I was stained with blood from other people who were injured near me,” one other passenger, Lazos, advised the newspaper Proto Thema.
Some 150 firefighters and 40 ambulances had been mobilized for the response, in line with Greek emergency providers.
Neighboring Albania, Italy, Serbia and Türkiye had been among the many states to ship condolences, as did China, the United States, France, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and the Vatican. Nicosia mentioned two Cypriots had been among the many lacking.
‘Windows exploded’
On the native media web site Onlarissa, a younger girl mentioned that the prepare “was stopped for a few minutes when we heard a deafening noise”.
Another passenger advised Skai TV that “the windows suddenly exploded. People were screaming.”
“Fortunately, we were able to open the doors and escape fairly quickly. In other wagons, they did not manage to get out, and one wagon even caught fire,” he added.
Authorities have declared three days of nationwide mourning.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
