Head- on train collision kills scores in Greece

‘ People screaming, people trapped’ in wreckage; transport chief resigns

The death toll rose to at least 38 and a rail worker was arrested Wednesday after the fiery head- on collision of passenger and freight trains near the town of Tempe in northern Greece.

More than 80 people were injured, and the Greek government declared three days of national mourning.

Rail operator Hellenic Train said the passenger train was traveling from Athens to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second- largest city and a popular tourist destination that describes itself as the “gateway to the Aegean Sea.” The train carried more than 300 people, including many university students returning home from Carnival, a three- day national party that precedes the Christian season of Lent.

Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the two trains ran into each other at high speed just before midnight Tuesday, authorities said. Rescue crews spent hours combing through the wreckage, listening for the calls of survivors. Cranes were brought in to peel away layers of twisted, burned steel.

Eight rail workers died, including the two drivers of the freight train and the two drivers of the passenger train, Greek Railroad Workers Union President Yannis Nitsas said. Greece’s firefighting service said nearly 60 people were in the hospital late Wednesday, including six in intensive care.

Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned Wednesday, saying he felt it was his duty to step down. The stationmaster in the Greek city of Larissa, near where the trains collided, has been charged with manslaughter and grievous bodily harm by negligence, police said. The stationmaster, who is in charge of signaling, denies wrongdoing, the BBC reported.

Some survivors said the collision felt like an earthquake.

“We heard a big bang,” Stergios Minenis, 28, who jumped to safety from the wreckage, told Reuters. “Then there was panic. Cables, fire.”

He described 10 to 15 seconds of chaos amid dangling cables, broken windows and flames – “people screaming, people trapped.”

Firefighters search though the wreckage early Wednesday. The passenger train carried more than 300 people, including many university students.

PHOTOS BY GIANNIS PAPANIKOS/ AP At least three cars burst into flames after the trains collided at high speed late Tuesday in northern Greece, authorities said.