A violent train accident in Greece

[Principessa]

https://nos.nl/artikel/24...ng-in-noorden-griekenland

Loosely translated as:

NOS News

Today, 01:40
Adjusted today, 09:00

Dozens killed in train crash in northern Greece

Two trains collided head-on in northern Greece, causing four wagons to derail. 36 people died and more than 80 people were injured, some of them in serious condition.

The passenger train was en route from the capital Athens to Thessaloniki when the vehicle collided with a freight train around midnight. That happened near the city of Larissa, about 380 kilometers north of Athens.

Rescuers spent all night trying to pull people out of the wreckage. Rescue work continues this morning. Emergency services are massively present and the army has been called in.

According to passengers who survived the accident, the impact threw several travelers through the windows of the carriages. One of the survivors tells local media that the train braked sharply just before the accident and that he also saw sparks. The teenager eventually managed to escape the train by smashing a window with his bag.

Busiest train route
Some of the derailed wagons have been almost completely destroyed by fire. About 250 passengers left the train unharmed. They were taken to Thessaloniki by bus.

According to the Greek authorities, there were many students on the train. The section between Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece's two largest cities, is the busiest stretch of rail in the country.

It is still unclear how the trains could run on the same track. According to news channel Skai, the first signals point to human error. Two railway employees responsible for the section where the accident happened have been questioned by the police.

The rail route between Athens and Thessaloniki has been operated by Italy's national railway company since 2017. In that year, he bought the ailing Greek company Hellenic Train.

Since then, major changes have been made to the Greek train network, which was in urgent need of modernisation. But railway employees tell Greek media that there were nevertheless many problems with, among other things, the electronic coordination of traffic control.

'Everything manual'
"Nothing works," says Kostas Genidounias, president of the drivers' union, in response to the accident. "Otherwise the drivers would have seen the red signal and the trains would have stopped 500 meters apart."

At the public broadcaster ERT, Genidounias says that drivers have to do everything manually and that they have repeatedly complained about this. "Just like before, we drive from one part of the route to another via the radio system."

[Principessa]

In the above link, there is also film footage; "These are the first images of the train accident"

[Principessa]

https://www.nu.nl/buitenl...tallen-zwaargewonden.html

Loosely translated as:

Trains collide in Greece: 32 dead and dozens seriously injured

By our news editors
01 Mar 2023 at 05:32
Update: 30 minutes ago


At least 32 people have been killed and 85 injured in a head-on collision between two trains in central Greece. 53 of them are seriously injured. Rescue workers tell Greek television that they are pulling more dead from the wagons in addition to survivors.
The collision between a freight train and a passenger train happened outside Larissa just before midnight on Tuesday. That city is located more than 300 kilometers north of the capital Athens. The passenger train carried about 350 people to the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki.

Several carriages derailed and caught fire. According to the regional governor, there is so little left of the front two wagons of the passenger train that they are "no longer visible".

Rescue workers use cranes and other heavy equipment to lift the derailed wagons to search for survivors and victims. About 250 passengers were evacuated by bus to Thessaloniki.

The cause of the collision has not yet been determined. The official responsible for the stretch where the accident took place has been arrested, Greek state television reports.

Omroep Skai showed images of derailed, destroyed train carriages, over which thick plumes of smoke hung. Seventeen vehicles were used by firefighters to extinguish the fire, which succeeded in the course of the night. Rescue operations are still underway, the fire service said.

The stretch between Athens and Thessaloniki, on which the accident occurred, has been modernized in recent years. Railway workers told Greek broadcaster Real FM that despite the modernization there were significant problems with the electrical coordination of traffic control. In 1972, a similar collision took place near Larissa, resulting in nineteen deaths.

Greece's railways are operated by the Italian state rail company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS).

[Principessa]

https://www.nu.nl/buitenl...ortminister-stapt-op.html

Loosely translated:

Greek station master arrested after fatal train collision, transport minister resigns

By our news editors
Mar 01, 2023 at 2:32 PM
Update: an hour ago


The station master of the Greek Larissa was arrested on Wednesday. He is held responsible for Tuesday night's major accident. At least 36 people were killed when two trains collided just outside the city. The Greek transport minister resigned following the accident.

The station master is charged with wrongful death and grievous bodily harm. He would have made mistakes in signaling the trains. As a result, they ended up on the same track and collided with each other. The 59-year-old man denies guilt and says the accident was the result of technical defects in the trains and the track. The police are still investigating whether this could be the case.

An employee of the Greek railway tells Kathimerini newspaper that there have been problems for some time with the safety measures that should have prevented such accidents. He says that the automatic signals have not been working for some time and that safety can therefore only be checked by people. Unions have been asking for a new control system since 2018.

Greek transport minister Kostas Karamanlis tendered his resignation on Wednesday afternoon. According to Karamanlis, that was "the least I can do in memory of the victims". The politician says in a statement that he takes responsibility for the "prolonged failure" of the state.

It is unlikely that any survivors will be found
In addition to the 36 deaths, dozens were also injured. According to Greek media, two nearby hospitals have admitted a total of 72 injured. Some of them are in serious condition and are in intensive care.

Rescue and search operations are still underway, but there is little chance that survivors will be found. The collision also caused a large fire. There may still be victims in the burnt-out carriages. The death toll could therefore rise, says the Greek fire service.

The collision between a freight train and a passenger train happened outside Larissa just before midnight on Tuesday. That city is located more than 300 kilometers north of the capital Athens. The passenger train carried about 350 people to the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki. There were two people in the freight train.

[thecrownjewelthief]

This accident looks absolutely horrible. So many young people headed back to school after the holiday back home It sounds like it was probably human error from the PM's latest statement which just compounds the tragedy - I don't know how anyone lives with that. I took the train between Athens and Thessaloniki a few times when I lived over there and it was such a pretty route. Hoping none of the students at the school where I worked were involved.

[Athena]

A dreadful thing to happen, affecting so many people.
God speed the rescue workers.

[onar]

Horrible, horrible...

We have 3 days mourning. It wouldn't be needed if everyone did their job as they should from the very beginning, like informing the system that there are two trains, moving on opposite directions at the same time, on the same line.

The testimonies of the passengers who survived are... and the statements from the victims' families...

It could have avoided. It should have. That's why we, as greek state, pay the damn company 50M per year, to keep their systems and the rails up to date.

[onar]

The tragic accident took place cose to Larissa, the Larissa's doctors' association president just said 'Nobody has delusions that may be other survivors"

[Principessa]

Dear Onar, if I heard it correct another horrible train accident occured on the same track several years back. Is that correct?

[onar]

Dear Onar, if I heard it correct another horrible train accident occured on the same track several years back. Is that correct?

It wasn't train accident, it was a school bus accident. Now that part of the road has been completely changed.

[Principessa]

Dear Onar, if I heard it correct another horrible train accident occured on the same track several years back. Is that correct?

It wasn't train accident, it was a school bus accident. Now that part of the road has been completely changed.

Ah, thank you for the info.

[onar]

57 bodies have been brought out of the ruins, 24 of them have been indentified.
56 people are on the missing list. Horrible. I see their pictures all over the internet and I'm so sorry. So sorry.

[thecrownjewelthief]

57 bodies have been brought out of the ruins, 24 of them have been indentified.
56 people are on the missing list. Horrible. I see their pictures all over the internet and I'm so sorry. So sorry.

Oh no, I didn't realize those numbers had gotten so high. Absolutely horrific.