29 killed, at least 85 hurt in train collision

A passenger train and a freight train collided in northern Greece early Wednesday, killing at least 29 people and injuring 85 others as flames and plumes of smoke swelled the night sky.

The crash occurred shortly before midnight near the Tempe Valley in northern Greece, an official from Greece’s Hellenic Fire Service said.

The passenger train was riding along a route between two popular tourist cities, Athens and Thessaloniki, when it crashed about 255 miles north of Athens. Some of the injured were transported to hospitals in the nearby city of Larissa, and at least 150 firefighters and dozens of emergency vehicles were dispatched to the scene.

“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,” Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said.