UK’s Sunak tries to win over skeptics to his Brexit deal
TEMPE, Greece — A passenger train carrying hundreds of people collided with an oncoming freight train in a fiery wreck in northern Greece early yesterday, killing 26 and injuring at least 85, officials said.
Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the collision near Tempe, a small town next to a valley where major highway and rail tunnels are located, some 380km north of Athens.
Hospital officials in the nearby city of Larissa said at least 25 people had serious injuries.
“The evacuation process is ongoing and is being carried out under very difficult conditions due to the severity of the collision between the two trains,” said Vassilis Varthakoyiannis, a spokesman for Greece’s firefighting service.
Hospital units used to treat burn victims had been alerted in the area, he said, and dozens of ambulances were involved in the rescue effort.
Survivors said several passengers were thrown through the windows of the train cars because of the impact.
They said others fought to free themselves after the passenger train buckled, slamming into a field next to the tracks.
Rescuers wearing head lamps worked in thick smoke, pulling pieces of mangled metal from the
LONDON — UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to Belfast on Tuesday to sell his landmark agreement with the European Union to its toughest audience: Unionist politicians who fear post-Brexit trade rules are weakening Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.
The UK and the 27-nation cars to search for trapped people. Others scoured the field with flashlights and checked underneath the wreckage.
Passengers who received minor injuries or were unharmed were transported by bus to Thessaloniki, 130km (80 miles) to the north.
Police took their names as they arrived, in an effort to track anyone who may be missing. EU announced on Monday that they had struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade that has vexed relations since the UK left the bloc in 2020.
The agreement will ease customs checks and other hurdles for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK that were imposed after Brexit
■ to maintain an open border between the north and its EU neighbour, the Republic of Ireland.
The deal, dubbed the “Windsor Framework”, was hailed by London and Brussels as a breakthrough. But Northern Ireland’s British unionist politicians have yet to give it their blessing.